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Aim. Switching to another biologic with the same mode of action provides greater opportunity for long-term management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In clinical practice, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such switching occurred for non-medical reasons as well. However, there is no information about switching from interleukin 6 (IL-6) receptor (R) inhibitor to direct IL-6 inhibitor. Objective – to assess the efficacy and safety of therapy in RA patients, after switching from IL-6R inhibitors (tocilizumab (TOC), sarilumab (SAR)) to olokizumab (OKZ) for reasons not related to the loss of their efficacy or adverse events. Material and methods. In this retrospective cohort study efficacy parameters and routine biochemical data were analyzed using descriptive statistics – mean values with standard deviation for continuous parameters and absolute and relative frequency for binary variables. Adverse events (AE) were reported according to patient’s files. The statistical significance and changes of the analyzed variables by visits were determined using paired t-test. Fisher’s exact test or chi-square test was used to compare the proportion of patients with improvement/no change and of patients with worsening. All tests were 2-sided, and p

The goal of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) therapy is to achieve remission or minimal disease activity (MDA). According to the EULAR guidelines, synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (sDMARDs), methotrexate (MTX) in particular, are first-line therapy for PsA.Objective: to study the rate of MDA achievement after initiation of sDMARD therapy in patients with early- and late-stage PsA and the efficacy of oral and parenteral MTX.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 253 patients (93 men and 160 women) diagnosed with PsA who met the appropriate 2006 CASPAR (ClASsification criteria for Psoriatic ARthritis) criteria and were recorded in the All-Russian PsA Registry. The median (Me) age was 47 (Min 20 – Max 82) years. All the patients took sDMARDs: MTX (n=211) that was received orally (as tablets) (n=102) and parenterally (n=109); leflunomide (n=7); sulfasalazine (n=24); apremilast (n=10); and tofacitinib (n=1). According to the disease duration at sDMARD treatment initiation, the patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 included 165 patients with an early PsA duration of less than 2 years and Group 2 consisted of 88 patients with a disease duration of >2 years. The efficiency of oral and parenteral MTX was evaluated in 182 patients (68 men and 114 women). Every 6 months, the patients underwent a standard rheumatology examination that included PsA activity assessment. The efficiency of MTX therapy was evaluated from MDA achievement (5 out of the 7 criteria) in the patients.Results and discussion. After sDMARD prescription, MDA was achieved in 39 (24%) of the 165 patients with early PsA and in 4 (5%) of the 88 long-term patients. The patients who started sDMARD at an early stage of the disease were significantly more likely to achieve MDA than those with late-stage PsA (odds ratio (OR) 6.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2–18.9). At 11 years after sDMARD therapy initiation, the cumulative MDA achievement rate in the patients with late-stage disease was 5% (p

Aim. To study the frequency and timing of the onset of remission and minimal disease activity after the administration of genetically engineered biologic drugs (GEBD) in patients with early and long-term psoriatic arthritis observed within the framework of the All-Russian register of patients with psoriatic arthritis.Material and methods. The study included 140 patients with psoriatic arthritis (77 men, 63 women) who met the CASPAR criteria, who took part in the All-Russian register and were followed up every 6 months. Previously, patients did not receive GEBD. The median age of the patients was 42 [19-73] years. All patients were divided into two groups depending on the duration of psoriatic arthritis before the appointment of GEBD: early psoriatic arthritis - ≤2 years (67 patients) and long-standing psoriatic arthritis - more than 2 years (73 patients). All patients were prescribed GEBD (37 - adalimumab, 26 - infliximab, 20 - etanercept, 19 - golimumab, 1 - certolizumab pegol, 33 - ustekinumab, 4 - secukinumab) in combination with or without methotrexate. All patients were assessed for the activity and efficacy of psoriatic arthritis therapy according to DAPSA and the criteria for minimal disease activity (number of painful joints - ≤1, number of swollen joints - ≤1, PASI - ≤1 or BSA - ≤3, pain score - ≤15, overall assessment of activity disease by the patient - ≤20 mm on a visual analogue scale, HAQ - ≤0.5, enthesitis -≤1) at the beginning of the study and every 6 months. The number of patients who achieved remission (DAPSA ≤4) or minimal disease activity (5 criteria out of 7) at least 1 time during therapy with GEBD was determined. The cumulative frequency and timing of achieving remission after the appointment of GEBD were calculated.Results. After the initiation of treatment with GEBD, DAPSA remission was achieved at least once in 24 out of 67 (36%) patients with early psoriatic arthritis and in 19 out of 73 (26%) patients with long-standing psoriatic arthritis. The minimum disease activity was achieved, respectively, in 33 of 67 (49%) and 23 of 73 (32%) patients. The time interval to achieve remission in early psoriatic arthritis was significantly less than in long-standing one. Its median was 48 months (95% CI: 11.75-84.25) and 139 months (95% CI not determined) (p

Objective: to study the clinical characteristics of PsA and working capacity in patients included in the All-Russian PsA Registry.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 614 patients aged 19–84 years with psoriasis from 39 subjects the Russian Federation, who were followed up in the All-Russian PsA Registry. On the basis of the assessment of demographic data, the spectrum of comorbidities, the degree of activity of the underlying disease according to Disease Activity Index for PsA (DAPSA) and Disease Activity in 28 joints (DAS28), clinical, functional, and social indicators were analyzed in the patients. The investigators studied information on the patients employment, working capacity, and disability, by assessing the group of the latter. The health status and the presence and severity of functional impairment in the patients were analyzed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), while their working efficiency was estimated according to the Workers Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: Specific Health Problem (WPAI-SHP questionnaire), by calculating the following parameters: absenteeism, presenteeism, an overall decrease in labor productivity, and impairment in daily functional activity.Results and discussion. The analysis of the All-Russian PsA Registry showed that most of them were of working age (30 to 59 years); 48.4% had concomitant diseases. Data on DAPSA changes were obtained in 349 patients, who were recorded to have mainly moderate (34.7%) or high (42.7%) disease activity, multiple dactylitides and enthesitides, and limited joint function. The registry reflects information on the social status of 521 patients: employed (61.2%) and unemployed (22.1%) persons, pensioners (15.2%), and students (1.5%). More than one third (37.1%) of patients with PsA had disability, mainly of Group III. The changes in the HAQ disability index were assessed in 326 patients; mild, moderate, and severe functional impairments were observed in 36, 26.4, and 3.7%, respectively. Absenteeism was detected in less than one third of patients with PsA, presenteeism was found in about half; there was an overall decrease in labor productivity in more than 60% and daily activity impairment in 68.8%. Statistically significant direct moderate correlations were established between the indicators of PsA activity (DAPSA and DAS28) and the level of productivity impairment in the patients; this was mostly related to an overall decline in labor productivity and to a decrease in daily activity.Conclusion. The data obtained from real clinical practice suggest that half of the PsA patients had high disease activity and a third had severe functional impairment, which led to a lower quality of life and to disability. The overall decrease in labor productivity and daily activity, which was detected in more than half of the patients, was associated with high PsA activity. The follow-up in the All-Russian PsA Registry, regular anti-inflammatory therapy with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and biological agents can improve the clinical and functional status and, consequently, working capacity in patients with PsA.

Objective: to analyze the results of tofacitinib (TOFA) therapy in real clinical practice according to the All-Russian Arthritis Registry (OREL). Subjects and methods. The OREL Registry included 347 patients (286 (82%) women and 61 (18%) men) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who initiated TOFA therapy. The male:female ratio was 1:4.7. The patients’ median age at onset of the disease was 42 years; its duration was 8 years. Most of the patients included in the registry had extended- (n=171 (52%)) or late- (n=148 (45%)) stage of RA. Results and discussion. Prior to initiation of TOFA therapy, RA activity according to DAS28 was high and moderate in 91 (64.5%) and 40 (28.4%) patients, respectively; the median DAS28 value was 5.5 [4.6; 6.2]; SDAI – 30.5 [21.4; 42.9], and CDAI – 28.2 [20.0; 37.1]. The use of TOFA was accompanied by significant decrease of disease activity. After 12 weeks, high RA activity was persistent in 32 (22.7%) patients; the number of patients with moderate activity increased to 77 (54.6%), that of those with low activity rose to 15 (10.6%); remission was observed in 17 (12.1%) patients. 216 (62.6%) and 76 (22%) patients received TOFA as first- and second-line therapy, respectively. TOFA was most frequently prescribed when tumor necrosis factor-á inhibitors (19.6%), rituximab (7.8%), tocilizumab (4.3%), and abatacept (5.2%) were insufficiently effective or poorly tolerated. Conclusion. The results of using TOFA in real clinical practice may suggest that the drug has high efficacy in patients with RA. TOFA can be used at a dose of 5 or 10 mg twice daily as both alone and in combination with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. TOFA showed similar efficacy in patients who had earlier taken biological agents and in those who had not.

The JAK inhibitor tofacitinib (TOFA) blocks the intracellular signaling pathway that activates the synthesis of cytokines and mediators involved in the development of pain and central sensitization (CS), which determines the rapid analgesic effect. However, it is not clear how pain reduction is associated with achieving low activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the early clinical response to tofacitinib and a decrease in rheumatoid arthritis activity after 3 and 6 months.Material and methods. The study group consisted of 88 RA patients (age – 53±11.5 years; 79.3% of women) who received basic anti-inflammatory drugs (59.5% – methotrexate, 19.8% – leflunomide) and who were prescribed TOFA in a dose 10 mg/day. Seropositivity for rheumatoid factor was 89.8%; the value of the DAS28 index is 5.2±1.2. The severity of pain was assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory questionnaire, the neuropathic component of pain (NCP) – using the PainDETECT questionnaire, signs of CS – using the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) questionnaire in the early stages after the administration of TOFA, RA activity – using the DAS28-CRP index after 3 and 6 months.Results. The mean severity of pain at baseline was 5.3±2.0 on the visual analogue scale (VAS); 51.1% of patients had signs of CS (CSI>40), 15.9% had NCP (PainDETECT>18). 7 days after the start of therapy, there was a significant decrease in pain – to 4.1±1.8 according to VAS (p