Volume 16 Issue 5, May 2020

Patients with clinically suspect arthralgia have articular symptoms such as pain and stiffness of the small joints without clinical signs of arthritis. Some of these patients progress and develop ‘true’ disease, but how can we differentiate evolving chronic disease from disease that will resolve?

New research suggests that cytotoxic T cells are dominant in the lesional skin of patients with early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (SSc) and contribute to vasculopathy and tissue fibrosis. Could therapeutic strategies that prevent T cell activation and cytotoxicity therefore present an option to potentially halt progression of SSc?

Lupus nephritis is a serious and currently irreversible complication of systemic lupus erythematosus that is a leading cause of mortality. New biomarkers and therapies are being developed to improve the monitoring and treatment of this disease.

Emerging data on the interactions between epigenetic mechanisms and genetic risk loci are providing insights into the underlying mechanisms of osteoarthritis that could identify novel and exploitable therapeutic targets

Pharmacomicrobiomics studies investigating the effect of variations within the human gut microbiome on drugs have provided insights into therapeutics used for inflammatory arthritis, which could facilitate microbiome-based precision medicine approaches in rheumatology.