Volume 53, Issue 3, May 2024, Page 188-198.

Volume 53, Issue 3, May 2024, Page 180-187.

Volume 53, Issue 3, May 2024, Page 173-179.

Morand EF, Abreu G, Furie RA, et al. Lupus low disease activity state attainment in the phase 3 TULIP trials of anifrolumab in active systemic lupus erythematosus. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2023;82:639-645. This note aims to correct an error in the DORIS (Definition of Remission in SLE) data in the Morand E, et al. (2023) article. In the version of this article initially published, analyses of DORIS remission excluded all laboratory parameters in the calculation of clinical SLEDAI-2K (cSLEDAI-2K), consistent with the cSLEDAI-2K definition in the TULIP protocols. The updated analysis aligns with the published DORIS remission definition by excluding only the serologic laboratory parameters from cSLEDAI-2K. These updates do not change the conclusions of the findings and this correction aligns the analysis with the validated DORIS remission definition that is now promulgated in the 2023 EULAR SLE treatment guidelines. Changes are summarised below: The corrected definition of...

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is the historic term used for decades for the HLA-B27-associated inflammatory disease affecting mainly the sacroiliac joints (SIJ) and spine. Classification criteria for AS have radiographic sacroiliitis as a dominant characteristic. However, with the availability of MRI of SIJ, it could be demonstrated that the disease starts long before definite SIJ changes become visible on radiographs. The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society, representing a worldwide group of experts reached consensus on changes in the nomenclature pertaining to axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), such as the terminology of diagnosis and of assessment of disease activity tools. These are important changes in the field, as experts in axSpA are now in agreement that the term axSpA is the overall term for the disease. A further differentiation, of which radiographic versus non-radiographic is only one aspect, may be relevant for research purposes. Another important decision was that the terms AS and radiographic axSpA (r-axSpA) can be used interchangeably, but that the preferred term is r-axSpA. Based on the decision that axSpA is the correct terminology, a proposal was made to officially change the meaning of the ASDAS acronym to ‘Axial Spondyloarthritis Disease Activity Score’. In addition, for simplification it was proposed that the term ASDAS (instead of ASDAS-CRP) should be preferred and applied to the ASDAS calculated with C reactive protein (CRP). It is hoped that these changes will be used consequently for education, in textbooks, manuscripts and presentations.

A hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the increased levels of autoantibodies preceding the onset and contributing to the classification of the disease. These autoantibodies, mainly anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor, have been assumed to be pathogenic and many attempts have been made to link them to the development of bone erosion, pain and arthritis. We and others have recently discovered that most cloned ACPA protect against experimental arthritis in the mouse. In addition, we have identified suppressor B cells in healthy individuals, selected in response to collagen type II, and these cells decrease in numbers in RA. These findings provide a new angle on how to explain the development of RA and maybe also other complex autoimmune diseases preceded by an increased autoimmune response.