Active clinical trials for "Arthritis"

nflammatory arthritis (IA) is a major cause of long-term disability. Due to specialist shortages, failure of primary care providers and individuals to recognize the disease, and lack of awareness of the importance of early intervention, delays to rheumatologic care are common. Peer support models have been used for various health issues and may be one method to assist individuals with early IA to manage their disease and cope with stress. One-on-one semi-structured interviews will seek out feedback on a peer support approach and explore the learning needs (informational needs, educational preferences) and opinions about emotional and appraisal support of individuals living with IA from the perspectives of family and friends. The data will be analyzed and expressed themes (articulated needs and understandings of interviewee context) will guide the future development of a peer support intervention.

This protocol is designed to evaluate the BRADA and ABILHAND questionnaires in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients that will be treated with an effective therapy. Patients with moderate to severe RA treated with tocilizumab will be asked to complete the BRADA and ABILHAND questionnaires at screening, baseline, after 12 weeks and after 24 weeks of treatment. All other assessments and questionnaires from daily clinical practice (such as the global assessment of disease activity by the patient, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), the SF36 questionnaire, measurement of ESR and CRP and the DAS 28 calculation), will also be used to evaluate these questionnaires.

Polymorphisms occur in several genes encoding key enzymes in the folate pathway may affect drug metabolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Whether these genetic variations contribute to differential responses to antifolate drug in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains to be investigated in the Taiwanese population. Objective. The goal of the present study is to investigate the interactions between genetic variations in folate genes and the efficacy/side effects of anti-folate disease-modifying antirheumatic drug in Taiwan. DESIGN. A cross-sectional study involving 100 patients with RA were enrolled from TCVGH. Genotypes in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR677C>T), tandem repeat polymorphism in thymidylate synthase enhancer region (TSER) and folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthetase (FPGS1901T>C) were determined by RFLP or pyrosequencing.

The purpose of this research study is to see if patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis or seronegative arthritis (and related conditions) mount protective immune responses to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine called Gardasil. The researchers also want to monitor for any increase in disease activity following receipt of the vaccine.

The purpose of this observational study was to observe and assess the long term use, safety, and effectiveness of adalimumab in a normal clinical setting.

The objective of the study is to identify and validate predictive markers of infliximab responsiveness in RA patients by 2 approaches: i) measuring biochemical, immunological and bone markers in sera because of their involvement in pathogenic mechanisms; ii) identifying gene-expression signatures in PBMCs by the transcriptomic analysis. Patients with active RA (ACR criteria) were given i.v. 3 mg/kg infliximab associated with metotrexate at weeks 0, 2, 6, and every 8th week. Infliximab efficacy was evaluated at week 14, using the EULAR response criteria. Just before the starting of infliximab treatment, the following parameters were measured in the sera: i) immunological tests: rheumatoid factor (IgA, IgG, IgM), anti-CCP, autoAb recognizing the 27 C-terminal fragment (ACAST-C27) and domain I (ACAST-DI) of calpastatin, anti-G6PI, anti a-enolase, anti-keratin and anti-perinuclear factor; ii) biochemical markers: CRP, MMP-1, MMP-3, TIMP-1, TIMP-2; markers of bone resorption: pyridinolin, deoxypyridinolin, osteoprotegerin, sRANKL, COMP. The predictive value of each parameter for a response/non-response to infliximab was analysed using Fischer's exact, Mann-Whitney and Chi2 tests. A blood sample was collected just before the onset of infliximab treatment and total RNAs were extracted from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The [33P] radiolabeled mRNAs were hybridized (duplicate or triplicate) over a set of 10.000 human cDNA probes spotted at a high density on nylon membranes. Data were normalized and filtered to allow the comparison between RNA samples. Statistical analyses were performed with the R software and hierarchical clustering was performed with the Cluster and Tree View softwares.

The special use-results surveillance is conducted in patients who have never been treated with Enbrel and in whom its long-term therapy may be instituted in the actual setting of use after marketing with the following objectives: 1. To examine the safety of long-term use of Enbrel including the occurrence of malignant tumors. 2. To confirm the efficacy of Enbrel in the long-term use.

This study tested the hypothesis that there would be a difference in the 12 month progression of structural hand impairment and hand function between a group of patients with early RA who received static resting splints and those that did not.

The purpose of this study is to determine if Enbrel® or Kineret® will have a positive effect on subject functionality as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQDI).

This is an observational prospective, multicenter study. The aim of the study is to evaluate how the Italian population of patients are treated with early aggressive RA, defined by the Italian Society of Rheumatology Guidelines, (GIARA Registry Study Group. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2003;21(Suppl. 31):S129-S132), in rheumatologic clinical practice and whether recent scientific evidence or new treatments available to rheumatologists can change their practice in a 2 year follow-up. The observation will primarily focus on the disease activity and clinical remission in patients who are receiving different treatment strategies. The primary goal is to define prevalence of clinical remission, according to the (Disease Activity Score) DAS 28 definition of clinical remission, in patients with early aggressive RA receiving different therapies at 1 year. Secondary objective are assessment of: Prevalence of Remission at the second year Disease activity at the first and second year. ACR 20%, 50%, 70% response at the first and second year. Quality of Life in patients with or without remission at the first and second year Safety Evaluations