Active clinical trials for "Spondylitis, Ankylosing"

Ankylosing spondylitits (AS) is a chronic, systemic rheumatic disease primarily affecting spine and sacroiliac joints, which belongs to the group of conditions known as spondyloarthopathies and causes eventual fusion of the spine. Twin study in AS estimated a heritability of over 90%. HLA-B27 is regarded as the earlist and most important gene associated with AS heritability, and over 90% of AS patients carry HLA-B27 gene. HLA-B27 was highly polymorphic, and more than 89 subtypes of B27 gene have been found. Subtypes of HLA-B27 vary between different regions, and so on as the relationship between HLA-B27 subtypes and disease development among different races. Anti-TNF- agents were regarded as one milestone in recent years development on treatment of ankylosing spondylitis, and most patients showed significant improvement after anti-TNF- therapy. Yet part of patients still showed insufficient response. Our previous study suggested AS patients carrying different genotype of SNP in TNF gene had different response to anti-TNF- therapies. But more studies should be carried out to identified more gene polymorphisms associated with treatment response. In this study we designed a prospective, open-label trial to investigate the genetic difference beween AS patients with different response to anti-TNF- therapy. We plan to enroll 50-100 early AS patients which fulfill the 2009 ASAS axial spondyloarthritis classification criteria and have axial symptom for no more than 2 years. The patients must have high disease activity defined as BASDAI 4, and HLA-B27 test must be positive. The patients should be able to receive 24 weeks of etanercept treatment. And patients who have previous other anti-TNF- therapy and any contraindication of anti-TNF- therapy must be excluded. Other medicines should be stable for at least 4 weeks before etanercept treatment begins. For the clinic assessment, patients should fill in the AS questionaires and receive physical examination at each visit. ASAS20 is thought as the primary endpoint. For the genetic polymorphysm detection, we select 10-20 SNP in MHC region associated with AS and 5-10 HLA-B27 subtypes which have been worked over and have definite association with AS. At the first visit 4ml of anticoagulated blood was collected and DNA was extracted. Target SNPs are detected by PCR then direct sequencing. HLA-B27 subtypes are identified using PCRSSP methods. And the relationship between SNPs/HLA-B27 subtypes and different response to anti TNF- therapy is accessed using chi-square statistic process in SPSS software. In this study we plan to investigate the relationship between genetic background and the clinical response to anti-TNF- therapy in AS patients, which has been seldom reported before. Our group have been studying the disease-associated gene of AS for years, and got plenty of data and experience about genetic study of AS.

Chronic joint complaints are prevalent in clinical practice. If chronic arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is not adequately controlled, it can not only affect patient's working ability but also produce indirect cost in patient's family. Quality of life will also be affected. Health-related quality of life issues are assuming increasing importance in chronic rheumatic diseases. However, studies on quality of life in rheumatic patients are limited. Factors related to quality of life are not clear. Application of quality of life measurement for improving clinical care of RA and AS patients is still difficult. The objective of this study was to evaluation the validity of EQ-5D life quality measurement in chronic arthritis patients in Taiwan. Factors associated with life quality will be addressed. This will also provide useful information for public health policy making.

Observe in real life adherence therapy and time to switch in ankylosing spondylitis patients with predominant assial involvement with 4 anti-TNF.

Preliminary data following a pilot study from our institution confirms the ability of 99mTc-glucosamine (99mTc-ECDG) to differentiate between active, subclinical and quiescent disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma lung, and vasculitis. We propose to extend these findings and further evaluate this imaging modality for its clinical utility, limitations, and application. An unacceptably high level of morbidity exists amongst patients suffering from rheumatic disease. This is often the result of mild disease being missed or misdiagnosed, and therapy inordinately delayed or inappropriate. The currently used therapeutic agents themselves have associated side-effects adding to unfavourable clinical outcomes. There is therefore a need for a superior, less expensive and more easily accessible imaging modality to assess the degree of inflammation to guide the clinician. Glucosamine is absorbed and metabolised in a manner not too dissimilar to that of glucose, and it can be readily labelled to form 99mTc-ECDG. Scans can be acquired within 3 hours of intravenous administration of this agent, accurately depicting sites of active inflammation/disease. HYPOTHESIS Glucose is a vital cellular substrate that accumulates at inflamed tissues because of the greater metabolic needs of the cells during active disease. Glucosamine, being an analogue of glucose, is metabolised more quickly in inflamed than non-inflamed tissue and thus 99mTc-ECDG scintigraphy like 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG-PET) scintigraphy allows for detection of active inflammation. Unlike current bone scans this agent has the sensitivity to detect subclinical inflammatory disease that would in turn provide essential information to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Our hypotheses on the relationship between periodontitis and AS are as follows; The prevalence of periodontitis is higher in AS patients group than that of non-AS control group Anti-TNF-α therapy would favorably affect the disease course of periodontitis. Based on our hypotheses, the specific objectives of the present proposal are as follows; The primary objective is to compare the prevalence rate of periodontitis between AS patient group and non-AS group. The secondary objectives will be: To observe the carriage rate of P. gingivalis in AS and non-AS groups To identify clinical parameters associated with the severity of periodontitis in AS group. To compare the progression of periodontitis at weeks 12 and 24 between AS and non-AS groups or between AS patients with and without anti-TNF-α treatment

FoLoMI is a pilot study in which the investigators will seek to determine if gait spatio-temporal and kinematic parameters can explain the evolution of a functional score, the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), at 18 months. The secondary objectives are: (1) to study the relationship between gait parameters measured at T0 and the BASFI at T0, (2) to study the relationship between gait parameters at T0 and the BASDAI at T0, (3) to assess general state of health of the patients and its evolution by appreciating: level of physical activity, state of fatigue, diurnal sleepiness and quality of life, and (4) to compare spatio-temporal gait parameters between patients and healthy controls.

Axial Spondyloarthritis (Ax-SpA) are chronic systemic inflammatory rheumatological diseases characterized by axial skeletal involvement and enthesitis. Sacroiliitis is the most prominent sign of the disease. The International Society for the Evaluation of Spondyloarthritis created a new classification for Ax-SpA in 2009. According to this classification, Ax-SpA; It is divided into two groups as ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). With the emergence of the term nr-axSpA, studies have begun to compare AS and nr-axSpA in terms of genetic, epidemiological and clinical features, treatment needs and response to treatment.However, more studies are needed to better understand the clinical features and symptoms of nr-axSpA patients. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical features of patients with nr-axSpA and AS; To evaluate spine posture, trunk position sense and gait parameters, and also to compare these results with healthy individuals.

In this study was to determine whether changes that occurred over time had an impact on the swallowing and voice functions depend of Ankylosing spondylitis patients.

The aim of this study was to assess the EATT and the related factors in patients with AS and to compare the results with that of the healthy controls'

This observational study will be a documentation of the prescribing and administration practices of Enbrel® and their impact on ankylosing spondylitis patients outcome in a real life setting.