Rheumatoid Arthritis News and Research

Latest Rheumatoid Arthritis News and Research

Online searches for unproven therapies for COVID-19

A new observational study by a group of scientists explores the rise in the public's fear-driven interest in unproven therapies for COVID-19, particularly chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, by tracking the internet searches relating to the purchase of drugs in news reports or publicized by public figures. They conclude: "Stay grounded in evidence and fight misinformation." The research letter and accompanying editorial comment are published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

29 Apr 2020

Testing of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 begins at Montefiore And Einstein

Researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have begun testing the drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, as part of a nationwide trial sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

29 Apr 2020

Arthritis drug assessed as potential treatment for COVID-19-related pneumonia

UC San Diego Health has launched a Phase III clinical trial, part of a global effort, to assess whether a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders might also have therapeutic value for COVID-19 patients who have developed or at high risk of developing serious lung damage from SARS-CoV-2 infections.

29 Apr 2020

The challenges of keeping young adults safe during the pandemic

Last month, after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered most of the state's residents to stay home, I found myself under virtual house arrest with an uncomfortably large number of Gen Zers.

29 Apr 2020

C-Path receives EMA’s letter of support to facilitate the diagnoses of type 1 diabetes

The Critical Path Institute (C-Path) today announced that its Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Consortium has received a letter of support from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to facilitate the development and validation of the proposed regulatory qualification of pancreatic islet autoantibodies commonly used in clinical practice to diagnose T1D: insulin autoantibodies, glutamic acid decarboxylase 65, and insulinoma antigen-2 autoantibodies as enrichment biomarkers for T1D clinical trials.

29 Apr 2020

New light-activated drug delivery method helps confine arthritis treatments to the joints

Although today's rheumatoid arthritis treatments can reduce symptoms, they often come with serious side effects. Results from a new mouse study suggest that a new light-activated drug delivery method helps confine treatments to the joints, which could reduce whole-body side effects.

27 Apr 2020

Is the confidence in hydroxychloroquine for the management of COVID-19 justified?

A new review paper published in the preprint open-access journal medRxiv in April 2020 reports that there is not enough evidence to justify the widespread use of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment or prophylaxis of the current COVID-19 illness.

23 Apr 2020

A new method to deliver therapeutic proteins inside the body

A new way to deliver therapeutic proteins inside the body uses an acoustically sensitive carrier to encapsulate the proteins and ultrasound to image and guide the package to the exact location required, according to Penn State researchers. Ultrasound then breaks the capsule, allowing the protein to enter the cell.

23 Apr 2020

Is hydroxychloroquine effective against COVID-19?

Following the emergence of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China, in the last month of 2019, it has spread globally to produce the first pandemic of the 21st century. The virus, called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has already affected over 2.5 million and killed more than 177,000 people as of April 22, 2020.

22 Apr 2020

Many phase II trials overestimate drug efficacy, pose a barrier in drug licensing

Based on a systematic analysis of trials related to rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis arthritis, a MedUni Vienna study group at the Division of Rheumatology at MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital was able to show that many clinical phase II trials systematically overestimate the efficacy of therapeutics, so that the results of subsequent phase III trials can often be disappointing. Essentially this situation also applies in many other areas.

21 Apr 2020

Are overactive immune cells causing COVID-19-related deaths?

While the COVID-19 pandemic is devastating many regions, the world over, a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in April 2020 describes the possibility that the critical or very severe cases of COVID-19 are due to the production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) due to hyperactivated immune cells.

16 Apr 2020

Gold-containing drug auranofin kills 95% of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 48 hours in lab conditions

A drug called auranofin, approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, effectively inhibits severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in laboratory conditions, as described in a new study by Georgia State University researchers.

16 Apr 2020

'Chaperone protein' protects against autoimmune diseases, mice study shows

Like a parent of teenagers at a party, Mother Nature depends on chaperones to keep one of her charges, the immune system, in line so that it doesn't mistakenly attack normal cells, tissues and organs in our bodies.

15 Apr 2020

Discovery of T cells response spectrum could new shed light on immune diseases

The discovery that immune T cells have a spectrum of responsiveness could shed light on how our immune system responds to infections and cancer, and what goes wrong in immune diseases.

15 Apr 2020

In shutting out threat, seniors in continuing care communities feel shut in

With tight restrictions in place at their continuing care retirement community, Tom and Janice Showler are getting on each other's nerves.

14 Apr 2020

New insights into the building blocks of periodontitis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major bacterial pathogen which leads to periodontitis also known as gum disease. In Japan, 80% of adults aged 35 and over suffer from this disease. What's more, P. gingivalis has also been linked to rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, pancreatic cancer, and even Alzheimer's disease.

13 Apr 2020

The building blocks of gum disease

A team of researchers has revealed the structure of adhesive pili and shed light on how they assemble, causing Periodontitis.

13 Apr 2020

Clinical trial to investigate effectiveness of antimalarial drugs for COVID-19 treatment

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is launching a clinical trial for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

9 Apr 2020

Potential harms associated with some drugs used for treating COVID-19 patients

Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are being used to treat and prevent COVID-19 despite weak evidence for effectiveness, and physicians and patients should be aware of the drugs' potentially serious adverse events, states a review in CMAJ.

8 Apr 2020

‘You pray that you got the drug.’ Ailing couple gambles on trial for COVID-19 cure

For 10 days last month, they lay in side-by-side isolation units in a Seattle-area hospital, tethered to oxygen and struggling to breathe as the coronavirus ravaged their lungs.

6 Apr 2020