RMD Open: Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases

In this podcast, Dr. Javier Rodríguez-Carrio talks to Dr. Pavel Ovseiko and Prof. Laura Coates about the recent paper on gender equity in academic rheumatology which emerged from a EULAR task force. They discuss the current situation of gender equity in academic rheumatology across Europe, the pros and cons of potential interventions to accelerate gender-equitable career advancement in this field and how and these be applied in the short- and long-term. Link to the viewpoint: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/8/2/e002518.long Listen to more episodes of RMD Open: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rmd-open-rheumatic-and-musculoskeletal-diseases/id1237127864

Autoantibodies against post-translationally modified proteins (PTM) are described in various rheumatic diseases and facilitate diagnosis and patient stratification. Researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center analysed the presence of autoantibodies against six different post-translational modifications in a cohort of patients with neuropsychiatric lupus. In this podcast, Leendert Trouw, Rory Monahan and Michelle van den Beukel discuss the results of their study with the ARD/RMDopen social media advisor Caroline Ospelt. Read the Open Access related paper: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e002079 Listen to more episodes of RMD Open: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rmd-open-rheumatic-and-musculoskeletal-diseases/id1237127864

In this podcast, Dr. Javier Rodríguez-Carrio (1) talks to Dr. Tue Kragstrup (2) about the recent safety data on JAK inhibitors emerged after the ORAL Surveillance study. They discuss what is the current situation, the potential strategies to escape a ‘static' situation, by managing uncertainty in the context of balancing risks, patient preferences and shared-decision process. Read the Open Access related paper: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e002236 (1) Javier Rodríguez-Carrio (University of Oviedo) (@javierrcarrio); (2) Tue Wenzel Kragstrup (University of Aarhus) (@KragstrupTW)

In this podcast, RMD Open's Social Media Advisor, Dr. Paul Studenic, speaks to Dr. Giovanni Adami, from Universita degli Studi di Verona, Italy, about his population-based cohort study evaluating air pollution-associated risk of developing an immune-mediated disease. By using an Italian-wide patient-dataset, initially designed for fracture risk assessment in women in combination with data for air-quality control stations across Italy, he presents results indicating that long-term exposure to air pollution coincides with a higher risk of developing autoimmune diseases. Read it on the RMD Open website: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e002055

In this podcast, Caroline Ospelt (Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland) talks to Alessia Alunno (Rheumatology Unit, University of Perugia, Italy) about the similarities and differences in the cytokine storm that occurs in COVID-19 patients and people with rheumatic diseases. Link to related paper: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/6/1/e001295

A systematic literature review on imaging techniques for diagnosis, outcome prediction and disease monitoring in large vessel vasculitis informing the European League Against Rheumatism recommendations is discussed in this podcast by two of the authors of the paper: Dr. Christina Duftner, rheumatologist at the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria, and Dr. Sofia Ramiro, rheumatologist at Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands. Read the paper on the RMD Open website: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000612.

RMD Open Editor-in-Chief Professor Bernard Combe talks to Professor Annette van der Helm from Leiden University Medical Center about the use of MR imaging in the diagnosis and classification of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. Professor van der Helm briefly summarises the pros and cons of MR imaging in comparison with the use of CT images, and highlights some of the technical challenges of this technique. For further information on this topic please read this viewpoint article published in RMD Open: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000728.

What is peer-review and why is important? EMEUNET, the Emerging EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) Network, organises a training program in collaboration with the EULAR journals to improve peer review skills of young researchers. Want to know more? Listen to the conversation between Dr Aurélie Najm (Nantes University Hospital, France) and Dr Javier Rodriìguez-Carrio (Universidad de Oviedo, Spain), first author of “Improving the peer review skills of young rheumatologists and researchers in rheumatology: the EMEUNET Peer Review Mentoring Program”, published by the members of the EMEUNET Peer Mentoring subgroup. Read the full article on the RMD Open website: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000619 Learn more about EMEUNET here: https://emeunet.eular.org

What mistakes should be avoided in our diet? And what potentially beneficial foods should we be taking? The answers are given by Professor Maurizio Cutolo (Postgraduate School of Rheumatology, University of Genova, Genova, Italy)in this short conversation with Claire Daien (Rheumatology department, Montpellier University, France) recorded at the XVII Mediterranean Congress of Rheumatology, in Genova, Italy, in April 2018. Read the full editorial on the RMD Open website: http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000591.

To better standardise the evaluation of disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis patients, especially in moderate disease, consensus scores of their medical doctor (MD) global ratings (EGA) are needed. Dr Janet Pope (Western University of Canada) suggests the development of a catalogue of patient scenarios to decrease the wide variability of ranking among rheumatologists. She explains how that could work in this conversation with Dr Paul Studenic (Medical University Vienna, Austria). Read the study “Physician global assessments for disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis are all over the map!” on the RMD Open website: http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000578.

Editor-in-Chief of RMD Open Bernard Combe is joined by Theodore Pincus, Rheumatologist at the Rush University, Chicago, to discuss how new screening tools such as the MDHAQ (Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire) are improving diagnosis in rheumatology. To read more about these topics, visit the RMD Open website: MDHAQ/RAPID3 scores in patients with osteoarthritis are similar to or higher than in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional study from current routine rheumatology care at four sites - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000391 Responsiveness of a simple RAPID-3-like index compared to disease-specific BASDAI and ASDAS indices in patients with axial spondyloarthritis - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000235 Improving inflammatory arthritis management through tighter monitoring of patients and the use of innovative electronic tools - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000302 Systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for assessing disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000202.

Professor Xavier Mariette (Head of Rheumatology at Université Paris-Sud, France) is an expert in Sjögren's syndrome. He tells Editor-in-Chief of RMD Open Bernard Combe what is known so far about a relatively unstudied autoimmune disease characterised by dryness of the mouth and eyes which is closely linked to rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Read more about this subject on the RMD Open website: • “Epidemiology of neurological manifestations in Sjögren's syndrome: data from the French ASSESS Cohort” -http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000179; • “SIGLEC1 is a biomarker of disease activity and indicates extraglandular manifestation in primary Sjögren's syndrome” - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000292; • “Patient burden of Sjögren’s: a comprehensive literature review revealing the range and heterogeneity of measures used in assessments of severity” - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/2/e000443.

Cassandra Calabrese (Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, USA) speaks with Editor-in-Chief of RMD Open Bernard Combe about checkpoint inhibitors. For more information, please visit the RMD Open website, where the related article to this podcast can also be found: Rheumatic immune-related adverse events of checkpoint therapy for cancer: case series of a new nosological entity: http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000412.

Professor Jonathan Kay (Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA) tells Editor-in-Chief of RMD Open Bernard Combe why he supports the switch from branded drugs to their cheaper biosimilar. They spoke at the EULAR conference 2017, held in Madrid, in June. For more information on this topic read: • Key design considerations on comparative clinical efficacy studies for biosimilars: adalimumab as an example - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000154 • Biosimilars: what do patients need to consider? - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000141 • Biosimilars in rheumatology: what the clinician should know - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000010 • Switching from originator biological agents to biosimilars: what is the evidence and what are the issues? - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/2/e000492.

Dr Joao Fonseca, head of the Rheumatology Department at the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre (Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa), tells Editor in Chief of RMD Open Bernard Combe how the data from the reuma.pt database is improving the early diagnosis and treatment of arthritis in Portugal. The Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register (Reuma.pt) was started by the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology in 2008 with the aim to register patients suffering from all the different inflammatory joint diseases. http://rmdopen.bmj.com/

Interleukin-17 (IL-17A) is a cytokine critical for the acute defence against extracellular bacterial and fungal infections. Excess production during chronic inflammation has been associated with many inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. In this podcast, the Editor-in-Chief of RMD Open Bernard Combe and Pierre Miossec (Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Lyon, France) discuss a review paper about an update on IL-17A. The review concludes that the use of IL-17 inhibition in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is easy to understand because of the role of IL-17 in bone destruction. However, the use of the same inhibitors for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) implies another understanding. In fact, IL-17 specifically in combination with TNF, induces bone matrix formation by isolated osteoblasts. This is the case at the site of ligaments insertion, where osteoclasts are absent. Local bone formation leads to syndesmophytes. Professor Miossec also explains how these findings might impact clinical practice. For more details about this article, visit the RMD Open website: http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000284.

BMJ and EULAR are launching a new rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases journal, RMD Open, and Editor-in-Chief Bernard Combe explains what readers and authors can look forward to. http://rmdopen.bmj.com/