Active clinical trials for "Arthritis, Rheumatoid"

There is a correlation between the CD55, CD59, CD35 and CD46 expression on B lymphocytes of patients before and after treatment with rituximab and the level of depletion and repopulation time for these cells. The theoretical rationale of the study assumes that the correlation, if any, will be a negative correlation. However, the hypothesis of positive correlation (two-tailed test) will also be tested.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the risk of serious infections in rheumatoid arthritis patients with tocilizumab is higher than in those with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors using the nationwide real-world data.

The high resolution chest scan is the gold standard for the screening of interstitial lung disease, but this remains an onerous examination, and irradiating. Ultrasound could be used to detect these disorders with a very good sensitivity and specificity. This exam offers the advantage of being non radiating, inexpensive, and accessible to the rheumatologist who already uses it in their daily practice. The investigators want to assess the lung ultrasound performance compared with the gold standard. Patients will be included during a regular follow-up consultation with their referent rheumatologist. If there is an indication of first line biotherapy or targeted therapy the doctor will propose to the patient to participate in the study, give him the information leaflet, collect orally non-opposition, and will complete a survey for evaluation of the general health and potential risk factors for interstitial lung.

To measure the prevalence of Neuropathic pain in Rheumatoid arthritis patients with ankle and foot pain To evaluate the role of Neuromuscular Ultra sound (NMUS) and nerve conduction study (NCS) in assessment of Neuropathic foot and ankle in Rheumatoid arthritis patients

The aims of this study are: • To assess 14-3-3 η (eta) protein antibodies in the serum of rheumatoid arthritis patients and its relation to disease activity and severity. • To investigate the role of 14-3-3 η (eta) protein in the diagnosis or assessment of subclinical carotid artery atherosclerosis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology characterized by peripheral polyarthritis, symmetric, which leads to joint destruction and deformity. It is estimated that the RA reaches about 0.5% of the population. According to data from DATASUS, was responsible for 26,671 hospitalizations, 229 deaths and cost exceeding R$ 20 million in 2005-2007. The main bodily changes are related to joint problems, however, systemic manifestations are also found in organs such as lung and heart. Although cardiovascular diseases are the most responsible of the deaths AR, pulmonary complications are common and account for 10% to 15% of all mortality. Anaya and colleagues point out that the pulmonary involvement contributes significant morbidity and mortality in these patients. Although pulmonary involvement is a frequent manifestation in RA, the prevalence and nature of rheumatoid lung disease has not yet been precisely established. Several lung disorders such as interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary nodules and bronchiolitis may ocorrer1. Laitinen et al point out that studies of lung function appear to be a valuable helper for radiography in the evaluation of pulmonary involvement in connective tissue diseases. Previous studies indicate that patients with RA have an increased incidence of abnormal lung function, according to assessments including spirometry, lung volume tests and diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide. Thus, the main objective of this study is to analyze the respiratory mechanics of patients with RA. Specific objectives were to seek to understand whether a relationship exists between duration of rheumatoid disease and lung function in these patients. For this, the investigators used 18 subjects in the control group, free of pulmonary disease and / or heart, all nonsmokers. In the RA group, a total of 72 patients divided into 4 groups of 18 volunteers each, classified according to disease duration (0-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years and> or = 16 years). It is noteworthy that all patients in the RA group will also be non-smokers, since it is already known in the literature that smoking impairs lung function. All individuals will perform the function test with a trained technician and qualified to function. The examinations will be conducted: Forced oscillation technique and spirometry, in that order.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are the most common rheumatic diseases dealt with rheumatologists in Taiwan. In previous studies, the 3 diseases all have broad impacts on health-related quality of life of patients and drive enormous economic burden on patients and society. The objective of this study is to compare health-related quality of life and disease-related costs between patients with the 3 different diseases. We will invite at least 100 patients with AS, RA or SLE respectively who are regularly followed in the outpatient clinic of the Division of Rheumatology at Taichung Veterans General Hospital (VGHTC) to participate in the study. Patients who have cognitive impairment, who are older than 65 years old or younger than 18 years old, who have overlapping syndrome of any 2 of the 3 rheumatic diseases (eg. RA overlapping with SLE) or who have visited rheumatologists in the outpatient clinics at VGHTC for less than 4 times in 2008 will be excluded. Patients who agree to take part will attend a comprehensive clinical examination in the outpatient department. Patients will complete a questionaire including demographic and disease characteristics, and health-related quality of life at the time of survey. The questionaires about disease-related costs will be completed once per quarter throughout 2009. The four questionaires about costs will be given at the time of initial survey and will be returned by returned by mail or in the following outpatient clinics visits every 3 months in 2009. The result of this study will help patients to realize their own health-related quality of life and disease-related costs and help government in Taiwan to realize the socioeconomic burden of the 3 common rheumatic diseases and to allocate health care resources more properly in the future.

With the current therapeutic focus in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) shifting from symptom control to actual disease modification there is a growing demand for more objective and sensitive ways to evaluate structural damage in the joints of these RA patients. Conventional radiography of bone erosion and joint-space narrowing was the only imaging approach available for this. Now significant advantages are offered in terms of speed, precision and scope over conventional methods. These advances include digital radiography and computer aided analysis as well as MRI which allow earlier identification of bone erosion and direct visualization of pre-erosive changes, such as bone inflammation and synovitis. Molecular markers of tissue turnover have been used for decades in clinical trials of osteoporosis, but only recently in RA. In contrast to serum C-reactive protein (CRP), which is only a nonspecific indicator of systemic inflammation and not directly reflective of structural damage to joints, more recently developed molecular markers of synovial, cartilage and bone turnover might provide a better indication of destructive activity of the disease. Compared with radiography and MRI assessment, molecular markers are particularly useful for patient selection and treatment, but can be used in a variety of ways to accelerate clinical trials and reduce the uncertainty and cost of drug development. In this project, we will set up a panel of molecular markers which could show an association with the MRI results and have a quantitative correlation with the degree of joint damage (sensitivity: 90 - 95%; specificity: 80 - 90%). The work in this project includes imaging markers evaluation and molecular markers analysis: X-ray scoring; MRI; Bone degradation markers; Bone formation; Cartilage degradation; Cartilage synthesis; Synovial turnover and Others. Nine molecular markers will be examined: CartiLaps ELISA/CTX-II, Urinary CrossLaps ELISA/CTX-I, and Serum osteocalcin, Serum COMP, MMP-3, Serum PINP, Serum PICP, Urinary PIIINP and Serum YKL-40. The data will be managed to evaluate the significance of correlation to image and clinical reports, so as to get a simple algorithm of parameters (molecular markers) which can reflect the structural damage of joint using mathematics and computer science.