Literature on Psoriatic Arthritis

Related ArticlesRecent advances in the treatment of the seronegative spondyloarthropathies.

Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2001 Oct;3(5):399-403

Authors: Ritchlin CT, Daikh BE

The observation that anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies dramatically reduce joint pain and inflammation and retard radiographic progression in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has created a considerable amount of enthusiasm among rheumatologists and has set new treatment standards for patients with inflammatory joint disease. A central question that has emerged is whether these agents are effective in treating the seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SpA). A related question is whether second-line agents such as methotrexate (MTX) can improve axial inflammation and functional measures if administered early in disease. The SpA are a cluster of inflammatory arthridites encompassing ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), Reiter’s syndrome/reactive arthritis (ReA), and the arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease. These disorders share similar clinical and immunogenetic features including axial arthritis and enthesopathy, a general predilection for males and patients positive for the MHC class I alleles, the absence of rheumatoid factor, and association with infections of the intestinal and genitourinary tracts. Reclassification of SpA based on axial or peripheral involvement may be more relevant from a pathophysiologic and therapeutic perspective than the current stratification, given the strong association between axial disease and the HLAB27 allele and the relative resistance of axial disease to conventional anti-inflammatory therapy.

PMID: 11564371 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Related ArticlesComparative analysis of psoriatic spondyloarthropathy between men and women.

Rheumatol Int. 2001 Oct;21(2):66-8

Authors: Queiro R, Sarasqueta C, Torre JC, Tinturé T, López-Lagunas I

This study analyzed gender-related differences in a cohort of patients with psoriatic spondyloarthropathy (SpA) We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of 100 patients (mean age 48 +/- 14 years; 63 men, 37 women), diagnosed as having psoriatic SpA on the basis of ESSG criteria. All patients were studied according to a standard protocol, and HLA-B27 and Cw status were analyzed in the study population and their frequencies compared to that of 177 healthy blood donors. The clinical features of PsSpA were compared between men and women by univariate analyses. Twenty-three patients showed isolated axial disease (M:F ratio 3.6:1), 36 had polyaxial disease (M:F ratio 1:1), and 41 showed oligoaxial pattern (M:F ratio 1.7:1). HLA-B27 was correlated with male sex (P=0.002) and isolated axial disease (P=0.016). Univariate analysis showed female sex to be correlated with lower complement levels (P

PMID: 11732861 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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