Risk of gout attack not increased in patients with thalassemia: a population-based cohort study.

The incidence of gout arthritis in patients with thalassemia and the association between them was indefinite. We aimed to give epidemiological evidence regarding the association between thalassemia and gout arthritis. This retrospective cohort study extracted data relating to the risk of gout arthritis from patients diagnosed with thalassemia between 2000 and 2013. We selected the control group at a ratio of 1:4 by propensity score matching (PSM). Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed to analyze the association between thalassemia and gout arthritis and to evaluate the hazard ratio (HR) of gout arthritis after exposure with thalassemia. The sensitivity analysis was performed to avoid the mislabeled thalassemia disease, the transfusion-dependent thalassemia was classified to compare the risk of gout arthritis. The secondary outcome for the risk of gout arthritis with antigout drugs treatment was also evaluated between study groups. In the age and sex matched cohort, the majority of thalassemia patients were women (62.03%) and aged younger than 30 years old (44.79%). There were 138 (4.2%) and 500 (3.8%) incident cases of gout arthritis in the thalassemia and non-thalassemia group. After PSM, the incidence rate, per 100 person-years, of gout arthritis was 0.48 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.56) and 0.60 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.72) in non-thalassemia individuals and patients with thalassemia, respectively. In the Cox proportional hazard regression, patients with thalassemia had no significant increase in the risk of gout arthritis (adjusted HR, 1.00; 95%CI: 0.80 to 1.25) after adjusting demographic variables and comorbidities. The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that the cumulative incidence of gout arthritis was not a significant difference in the thalassemia group than in the comparison group (p > 0.05). The sensitivity analysis showed the consistent results about the risk of gout arthritis in patients with thalassemia. Our study indicated that there was no significant increase in the risk of gout arthritis in subjects with thalassemia.Future research needs to clarify the biological mechanisms behind this connection.

Tofacitinib Treatment of Refractory Cutaneous Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis: A Case Report.

Introduction: To date, there is no treatment with proven efficacy for cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis (CLV). Several reports have suggested that CLV responds favorably to corticosteroids, colchicine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), azathioprine, and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). To the best of our knowledge, the oral small molecule Janus kinase inhibitor, tofacitinib, plays an important role in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Therefore, tofacitinib may be a prospective therapy in patients with CLV. Case Presentation: A 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a 5-year history of symmetric skin lesions mainly affecting both lower extremities. The results for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), anti-extracted nuclear antigens (ENA) autoantibodies, anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) antibodies, and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were all negative. The definite diagnosis of CLV was determined by a skin biopsy. However, the patient exhibited a poor response to prednisone, HCQ, methotrexate, colchicine, azathioprine, and tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablets (TGTs) treatments. She was then treated with oral tofacitinib (5 mg twice daily) and oral prednisone (25 mg daily). Outcomes: Her skin lesions gradually improved over a period of 4 weeks. Two months later, the skin ulcers completely resolved. No evidence of recurrence of skin ulcers was observed during a 6-month follow-up. Conclusion: We present the first case of a female patient receiving short-term tofacitinib therapy for refractory CLV. Tofacitinib may be a promising oral alternative for patients with CLV. However, its efficacy and safety require further appraisal through clinical trials.

Association between neutrophils and renal impairment of rheumatoid arthritis: A retrospective cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that increased neutrophils, as a manifestation of oxidative stress, may be involved in the progression of kidney disease. To our knowledge, little is known about the relationship between neutrophils and renal impairment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, we aim to investigate whether neutrophil is associated with renal impairment in RA patients. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the renal function of 602 RA patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from September 2018 and September 2019. The exposure variable was neutrophils, and the main outcome was eGFR. General data (gender, age, duration, hypertension, diabetes, hobbies, and medication history), whole blood markers, lipid indexes, and inflammatory indexes were collected as much as possible. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to evaluate the association between neutrophils and renal impairment in RA participants. RESULTS: A total of 89 cases (14.8%) had renal impairment with eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 , and 75 cases (84.3%) were female. Subgroup analysis showed that female (odds ratio [OR] = 0.523, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.318-0.867, p = .011), neutrophils greater thsn 7.5 × 109 /L (OR = 2.314, 95% CI: 1.310-4.087, p = .004), NLR > 3.53 (OR = 1.757, 95% CI: 1.104-2.799, p = .018), hemoglobin less than 120 g/L (OR = 2.413, 95% CI: 1.418-4.118, p = .001), and UA > 360 µmol/L (OR = 6.052, 95% CI: 3.708-9.878, p < .001) was related to renal damage in RA. Adjusted for several confounders, the multivariable analysis indicated that neutrophils greater than 7.5 × 109 /L (OR = 1.784, 95% CI: 1.164-3.288, p = .031) was independently associated with an increased risk of renal impairment in RA. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that neutrophils greater than 7.5 × 109 /L was associated with a high risk of renal impairment in RA, suggesting that neutrophil may be a biomarker for renal impairment in RA.

Need for Greater Attention to Joint Damage in Rhupus Patients: Results from an Ultrasound Study.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of inflammation and bone destruction of hand joints in rhupus patients through ultrasound examination. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ten rhupus patients and 33 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with hand arthropathy were recruited in this single-center study, and the clinical features and ultrasound manifestations of these patients were analyzed. RESULTS We discovered that rhupus patients were older (47.31±4.35 years vs. 38.58±2.50 years, P=0.040), had longer duration of disease (median 72 months vs. median 12 months, P=0.040), had a higher positive rate (70% vs. 10.71%, P<0.001), and had higher titers of anti-CCP antibody (42.633±14.520 vs. 2.121±0.970, P<0.001) than SLE patients with arthropathy. More importantly, the prevalence rates of synovial hyperplasia (90% vs. 42.42%, P=0.008), synovitis (90% vs. 18.18%, P<0.001), synovial hyperplasia (70% vs. 10.71%, P<0.001), and bone destruction (70% vs. 6.06%, P<0.001) were higher in rhupus patients than in SLE patients with arthropathy. CONCLUSIONS Rhupus patients are more prone to develop synovitis, synovial hyperplasia, and bone destruction. Therefore, more attention should be paid to protection of the joints in rhupus patients.