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This article presents the results of the 3-year use of netakimab (NTK), a monoclonal antibody against interleukin 17, in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) as part of the phase III PATERA study. Objective: to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of NTK in patients with PsA over a period of 3 years. Material and methods. PATERA is a double-blind, multicenter, randomized, phase III clinical trial. 194 patients with active PsA were randomized 1:1 to NTX or placebo/NTX. NTX/placebo was administered at weeks 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 14. Placebo patients who did not achieve a 20% improvement according to ACR criteria (ACR20) at week 16 received NTX at weeks 18 and 22. Patients who achieved ACR20 received placebo at weeks 18 and 22. Subsequently, all patients received NTX. At week 54, patients who did not meet ACR20 criteria were withdrawn from the study and the remaining patients were treated in the extension phase. The total duration of NTX use in all groups was 3 years. Results and discussion. Therapeutic response achieved in the first year of treatment was maintained in the extended phase of the study. Against the background of NTX use, a significant long-term decrease in clinical manifestations of PsA was observed. Adverse events occurred mainly in the form of laboratory abnormalities and infectious diseases, which were mostly mild to moderate. Antibodies against NTK were detected in 9.3% of patients and in most cases they were formed at the end of the first and beginning of the second year of therapy. Conclusion. NTK showed a favorable safety profile with long-term use over 3 years. The clinical effect on all manifestations of PsA was maintained in most patients over a long period of time without significant loss of response.

On 30 May, 2024, an expert meeting was held to update the approaches for the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). A new approach to the treatment of axSpA was considered, which consists of depleting autoreactive TRBV9+ T- lymphocytes by introducing a monoclonal antibody – the drug seniprutug. The value of the drug seniprutug in the treatment of the disease was discussed and key aspects for the incorporation of the drug seniprutug into real-world clinical rheumatological practice were agreed.

The article describes a clinical case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) resistant to traditional treatment regimens and the first successful experience with the type I interferon inhibitor – anifrolumab, as part of an early access program in the Russian Federation. High efficacy and safety of the drug in the treatment of SLE with active lesions of the skin, mucous membranes and joints were noted.

Мочевая кислота (МК) — это конечный продукт пуринового обмена, являющийся основной составляющей клеточных запасов энергии, таких как аденозинтрифосфат (АТФ), а также компонентом дезоксирибонуклеиновой (ДНК) и рибонуклеиновой (РНК) кислот. На сегодняшний день в Российской Федерации нормальным показателем МК в сыворотке крови считается 40 кг/м2 , по сравнению с пациентами с ИМТ

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.

Objective. To demonstrate the possibility of having a spondyloarthritic mask of osteomalacia in patients of both sexes.Materials and methods. Two clinical cases of osteomalacia occurring under the mask of spondyloarthritis in patients treated at the Clinical Rheumatology Hospital of Saint-Petersburg, Russia, as well as similar cases described in the literature, were analyzed.Results. In the cases described, patients were diagnosed with a disease from the group of spondyloarthritis based on a number of individual symptoms, such as pain in the lower back and stiffness, as well as instrumental examination data. At the same time, with in-depth evaluation, the pain in the lower back did not did not met to the inflammatory pain ASAS criteria, and there were also no signs of general laboratory activity of the disease. The conventional therapy for spondyloarthritis was ineffective. With the re-evaluation of clinical, laboratory and instrumental data, the diagnosis was changed to osteomalacia. Appointment of adequate therapy with vitamin D after a review of the diagnosis resulted in both a regression of clinical symptoms and an improvement in laboratory parameters.Conclusions. If the patient has pain in the lower back, especially without clear signs of inflammatory, no signs of general laboratory activity, further examination is necessary to clarify possible osteomalacia. Spondyloarthritis should be only diagnosed in cases with the secondary nature of symptoms excluded.

ASAS health index (ASAS HI) is a comprehensive tool developed on the basis of the international system of ICF (the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) to quantify the health of patients with spondyloarthritis (SPA), including ankylosing spondylitis (AS). ASAS HI is a questionnaire containing 17 questions, each related to a specific ICF pool (pain, emotions, sleep, sexual function, mobility, self-care and communication). ASAS HI additionally includes 9 questions (ASAS EF Item Set) to assess the impact of environmental factors on the health of the patient with SPA. The aim is a Russian translation and adaptation of the ASAS HI (including ASAS EF Item Set). Material and methods. Translation of ASAS HI and ASAS EF Item Set from English into Russian and its adaptation were carried out in five stages: the stage of direct translation; the stage of synthesis of translations and formation of the Russian version; the stage of reverse translation from Russian into English; the stage of comparison of the original English-language questionnaire with the result of reverse translation and the formation of the final Russian-language version; field test. Results and discussion. Three researchers performed an independent translation of ASAS HI (including ASAS EF Item Set), after which the fourth researcher created and agreed on a single Russian version of the questionnaire. Then two volunteers, for whom English is the main language, performed a reverse translation of ASAS HI from Russian into English (reverse translation). An independent researcher has compared the original and the resulting reverse translated English version of the ASAS HI, and then the three translators performed the joint correction of the text of the three questions, differing in English-language versions. The obtained second Russian-language version of ASAS HI (including ASAS EF Item Set) was tested by 10 patients with SPA: AS – 60%; non-radiological axial spondylitis (NR axSPA) – 40%, men – 60%; mean age – 32±12 years; duration of symptoms – 7.5±2.2 years; BASDAI index – 3.39±3.04; ASAS HI – 6,96±3,35.The average time to fill the questionnaire – 2,2±1,18 min. Patients rated the Russian version of the questionnaire as clear, easy to fill in and comprehensively characterizing health problems related to SPA. The results of testing Russian-speaking patients are comparable with the results obtained in testing 206 patients with SPA from 19 non-English-speaking and 4 English-speaking countries (AS – 65%; men – 59.7%; mean age – 42.4±13.9 years; duration of symptoms – 11.2±11.0 years; BASDAI – 3.8±2.3; ASAS HI – 7.1±4.4; filling time – 2.6±1.6 min). Conclusion. During the study translation and adaptation of the Russian version of ASAS HI, which is a tool for comprehensive assessment of health and function of patients with SPA, including AS were performed.

Objective: to determine the efficiency and safety of therapy with tofacitinib (TOFA) in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after insufficient previous therapy in real clinical practice.Subjects and methods. The investigation enrolled a total of 33 patients with RA who met the 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and/or the 2010 ACR/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria. All the patients received TOFA 5–10 mg administered orally twice daily in combination with MTX; 30 patients took TOFA 10 mg/day and 3 patients had TOFA 20 mg/day. Every 6 weeks, the patients were examined by a rheumatologist and laboratory-instrumental tests. RA activity changes were assessed with DAS28-CRP, SDAI, and CDAI.Results and discussion. Results were assessed at weeks 12, 54, and 114. A significant decrease in DAS28-CRP, SDAI, and CDAI values was noted just at 12-week follow-up; at week 54, the mean values of these indices were 3.7±1.0, 14.9±8.8, and 13.4±9.0, respectively. There was a substantial decline in the levels of rheumatoid factor in 27% of the patients; while one third of them had a 60% decrease in its level and four patients achieved a negative seroconversion. Neither serious adverse events (AEs) no AEs that had not previously been described in the literature were observed during the follow-up study. Nine non-serious AEs were recorded in 8 (25.0%) patients.Conclusion. The investigation shows that TOFA makes it possible to control the activity of the inflammatory process and, with its sufficient safety and generally good tolerance, to achieve low RA activity in 49% of cases, including patients with multidrug resistance. The high efficacy of TOFA and, in particular, its combination with MTX used in patients with refractory RA give grounds for wider use of this drug, as confirmed by our investigation.

The paper gives the definition of remission in axial spondyloarthritides (axSpA), which has been developed by the Spondyloarthritis Study Group of Experts. The work used the Delphi technique. At stage 1, based on the analysis of the data available in the literature and on their own clinical experiences, the experts proposed some variants of the definition of remission and ways of its evaluation in patients with axSpA. At Stage 2, the definitions that had received at least 80% of the votes via anonymous voting were selected and adopted without further discussion. Those that had received an equal number of votes were reconsidered and additionally discussed; then there was repeat voting, by choosing the final definition. As a result of their discussion, the experts formulated the definitions of clinical laboratory and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remissions. They proposed the following remissions in axSpA: drug and drug-free, clinical laboratory, and MRI remissions, as well as a remission in the presence and absence of structural changes in the locomotor system, as evidenced by imaging techniques. Criteria for clinical laboratory remission and basic tools for its evaluation that can be used in real clinical practice and researches have been elaborated.

The paper gives recommendations for the drug therapy of axial spondyloarthritides, which have been developed by the Spondyloarthritis Study Group of Experts. The recommendations describe the patient management tactic in the most common clinical situations, which is aimed at maximizing the efficacy and safety of treatment.

The paper gives the recommendations for the assessment of disease activity and functional status in patients with ankylosing spondylitis in clinical practice, which have been developed by experts, by taking into account international and Russian experience in managing these patients.

Objective: assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) incidence among patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) without manifestation of cardiovascular diseases.Materials and methods. We analyzed the data of 10-year prospective follow-up of the patient with AS (n = 278), psoriatic arthritis (n = 85) and healthy controls (n = 150) without any cardiovascular diseases. All groups were comparable in regard to cardiovascular risk factors. During these 10 years all new cases of CAD (verified by cardiologist) in the study population were tracked.Results. New cases of CAD were fixed in 64 out of 278 patietns with AS and in 16 out of 150 controls (p = 0.0017). Using log-rank MantelCox test and logrank test for trend we demonstrated statistically significant differences in CAD incidence between patients without spondyloarthritis (SpA) and patients with AS and PsA (p < 0,0001). The risk of CAD development was higher in PsA group than in the control group; relative risk was 4.16 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.36–7.33), RR 6.1 (95 % CI 3.05–12.44) (p < 0.05). Increased risk of myocardial infarction was observed both in patients with AS (RR 4.98; 95 % CI 1.54–6.12) and patients with PsA (RR 5.2; 95 % CI 2.4–7.8) comparing to healthy controls. There was no significant difference between the AS-group and the control group in terms of risk of stenocardia development (p > 0.05).Conclusion. The risk of exertional stenocardia in patients with AS was not higher than that in individuals without SpA. However, patients with AS have higher risk of myocardial infarction than those without SpA. PsA patients have increased risk of CAD development comparing to healthy controls and individuals with AS.

The authors have analyzed the literature dealing with studies of the efficiency and safety of stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) through the electronic resources Pubmed and Medline by using the keywords «bone marrow transplantation», «hematopoietic stem cell transplantation», «ankylosing spondylitis», «autoimmune diseases», and «sacroiliac joint biopsy». The paper describes four cases of SCT in AS patients, including transplantation that was carried out in one patient with lymphoma concurrent with AS, in two AS patients without blood cancers, and in one patient with AS concurrent with myeloid leukemia. Drug-free remission was achieved in 3 cases: lymphoma concurrent with AS (n=1), AS concurrent with myeloid leukemia (n=1), and AS without comorbidities (n=1). In addition to an improvement in the course of AS, there were also two cases with clinical presentations of AS after SCT. The given cases show that SCT can be basically used to induce drug-free remission in patients with severe forms of standard therapy-resistant AS. However, the introduction of SCT in clinical practice needs to adjust the technique to the specific features of AS patients.

Changes in vessel wall stiffness are a sign of endothelial dysfunction and vascular remodeling at reversible, preclinical stages and may be a marker for cardiovascular disease, including in the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).Objective: to study changes in vessel wall stiffness indicators in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) without cardiovascular diseases during short- and long-term therapy with NSAIDS.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 164 AS patients aged older than 18 years. Of them 60 patients took amtolmetin guacil (AMG) daily for 3 months within the framework of the CORONA trial, the other 104 patients received nimesulide at least thrice weekly for 60 months (the index of NSAID use was 56%) within the framework of the PROGRESS study. Vessel wall stiffness indicators (augmentation indices and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWVao)) were studied in all the patients at baseline and after 3 (for those who took AMG) and 60 (for those who received nimesulde) months.Results. At baseline, AS activity and cardiovascular risk factors were comparable in the short- and long-term follow-up groups. The mean values of aortic augmentation index (AixAo) in the patients taking AMG were 13.5% [6.08; 22.08] at baseline and 14.25% [9.4; 24.25] after 3 months of therapy (p=0.18); PWVao was 7.7 [6.72; 9.41] and 8.46 [7.28; 9.96] m/sec, respectively (p=0.007). At the same time, PWVao was >10 m/sec only in 6 (10%) patients at baseline and in 12 (20%) following 3 months. In the group of patients taking NSAIDs long, AixAo was 21.5% [11.08; 34.25] at baseline and 18.25% [09.33; 26.28] at week 12 (p=0.3); PWVao was as high as 7.6 [6.56; 7.91] at baseline and 7.8 [7.22; 8.1] m/sec at week 12 (p=0.12). The PWVao of >10 m/sec was found in 20 (19.2%) patients at baseline and in 22 (21.15%) after 60 months of follow-up and treatment. The number of patients with unidirectional changes in vessel wall stiffness indicators did not differ in the 3- and 60-month use of NSAIDs. Conclusion. During 3-month NSAID therapy, the patients with AS showed a slight increase in PWVao in the absence of changes in the other indicators of vessel wall stiffness. At the same time, the mean values of PWVao remained within the normal range and its increase >10 m/sec was detected only in 20% of the patients. Long-term NSAID therapy in AS patients without cardiovascular diseases was unaccompanied by a change in the values of vessel wall stiffness and PWVao.

The paper gives the draft guidelines elaborated by the Expert Spondyloarthritis Diagnosis and Treatment Group by order of the Association of Rheumatologists of Russia. The guidelines include the essentials of how to use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in axial spondyloarthrititides, including ankylosing spondylitis, contain instructions for how long they should be administered, and describe possible patient management tactics in the most common clinical situations and a preferential algorithm for evaluating the efficiency and safety of treatment.

The paper provides guidelines for the use of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitors in the treatment of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), including ankylosing spondylitis. It gives data on the efficacy of TNF-α inhibitors in patients with non-radiographic axSpA. By using international and Russian guidelines, the authors lay down indications for this therapy and criteria for evaluation of its efficiency and safety.

By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, spondyloarthritis studies have accumulated a certain number of terms that are obsolete, but used by physicians in their everyday speech, on the one hand, and a great variety of different definitions, on the other hand. In January 2014, the first organizational meeting of the Expert Group on Spondyloarthritis, Association of Rheumatologists of Russia, decided that its primary task should be to order the terminology used in this area. The authors primarily collected the terms, which had been already used in medical vocabulary, and then divided them into two categories: obsolete definitions and terms to be finalized and unified. This publication gives guidelines for using the medical terms relevant to spondyloarthritis and separately discusses how to correctly write the term sacroiliitis.

Objective: to estimate the rehabilitation or palliative care needs of patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) and to determine the specific features of palliative care in them.Subjects and methods. The literature on the investigated problem was analyzed using the electronic resources of Pubmed, Medline, and E-library. The authors obtained data based on the prospective follow-up of 182 patients with SpA in January 2010 to March 2014 (PROGRESS study). The degree of axial skeletal immobility (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI)) was estimated; the presence of irreversible organ changes (uveitis-induced visual loss, chronic renal failure due to amyloidosis, etc.), and X-ray changes of the joints and spine were specified. The number of people with varying degrees of disability and that of those needing surgery were taken into account.Results. The investigation showed that mobility changes and disability might progress rapidly in patients with SpA: in 2010 to 2014, the number of disable patients with SpA increased from 20.5 to 48.9%. In 2014, more than one third (37.8%) of the patients needed rehabilitation and orthopedic correction; 5 (2.74%) patients had IV functional class and required nursing and palliative care.Conclusion. SpA is a chronic disease that can lead to a rapid functional impairment. Chronic pain, loss of mobility, vision deterioration, amyloidosis, and other causes show the need for palliative care in some patients with SpA. Special tools for evaluating the health status of patients with SpA should be elaborated to determine whether the patient needs rehabilitation and palliative care.

A large number of classification criteria for spondyloarthritis (SpA) are simultaneously used in modern rheumatology in the almost complete absence of diagnostic criteria. This poses a number of problems, among which there are two most important ones: 1) the frequent use of classification criteria to make a diagnosis in real clinical practice; 2) the possibility of stating different nosological entities of SpA in one patient in the presence of the same clinical picture.Objective: to investigate the specific features of the diagnosis of SpA and the use of its classification criteria in clinical practice.Subjects and methods. The investigation enrolled 119 patients with the established diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), undifferentiated axial or peripheral SpA. Whether their clinical picture complied with the modified New York criteria, the European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group (ESSG) criteria, the Amor criteria, and the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) classification criteria for axial and peripheral SpA and whether the Russian version of the modified New York criteria complied with the Classification criteria of Psoriatic ARthritis (CASPAR) were determined in the patients.Results. Sixty-three patients diagnosed with AS (M45), 44 with PsA (M07.0-07.3), 8 with undifferentiated SpA (M46.9), and 4 with nonradiographic axial SpA (M46.8) were followed up by attending physicians. The latter diagnosed AS in 10 patients who met the ASAS criteria for axial PsA but not the modified New York criteria. Twenty-one patients diagnosed as having PsA simultaneously met both the CASPAR criteria and the modified New York criteria, which could establish the diagnosis of AS in these cases. Eighty-one (68.0%) out of the 119 patients met the Amor criteria; 98 (82.3%) patients, the ESSG criteria; 91 (76.5%), the ASAS criteria for axial SpA; 18 (15.1%), the ASAS criteria for peripheral SpA; 76 (63.8%), the modified New York criteria; 88 (73.9%), the Russian version of the modified New York criteria; 42 (32.3%), the CASPAR criteria. No intersection of criteria was observed in only 5 patients; 113 (94.9%) patients met ≥2 criteria; 96 (80.7%), ≥3 criteria; 81 (68.1%), ≥4 criteria; 66 (55.5%), simultaneously ≥5 criteria; and 18 (15.1%), simultaneously 6 criteria.Conclusion. Most patients with SpA meet ≥2 classification criteria, which gives the chance to state ≥2 nosological entities in the same patient. This demonstrates the elaboration of diagnostic criteria that can make a clear distinction between different forms of SpA in clinical practice.

The increasing number of women with ankylosing spondyloarthritis (SpA) makes it relevant to study the specific features of this disease in persons of different genders.Objective: to study the indicators of activity and functional status in male and female patients with axial SpA.Subjects and methods. The study enrolled 91 patients (43 women and 48 men) with axial SpA admitted to the Rheumatology Unit of the Saratov Regional Clinical Hospital in 2013. The age of the women and men was 41.63±12.04 and 41.94±12.76 years, respectively. All the patients fulfilled the ASAS criteria for axial SpA. 60.43% of the patients had ankylosing spondylitis (AS) meeting the modified New York criteria; 26.37% had psoriatic arthritis (PsA) according to the CASPAR criteria (only patients with axial involvement were included in the study and those with peripheral arthritis were excluded); 9.89% had undifferentiated axial SpA. Age at symptom onset, disease duration, and age at diagnosis of axial SpA were taken into account. The activity of axial SpA (ASDAS, BASDAI, highsensitivity C-reactive protein) and the mobility of the axial skeleton (BASMI and its components) were investigated in patients of different genders.Results. The study has established that the women are hospitalized with diagnosed axial SpA as often as the men. The indicators of activity and axial skeleton mobility are similar in the male and female patients with axial SpA as a whole and with a disease history of less than 10 years. Having a disease history of more than 10 years, the women preserve greater mobility of the lumbar and cervical spine than do the men with the similar disease activity.

В первом номере журнала «Современная ревматология» за 2015 г. была опубликована статья И.З. Гайдуковой, А.И. Акуловой, А.В. Апаркиной, А.П. Реброва «Диагностика спондилоартрита: нужны ли нам новые критерии?». В ответ на публикацию статьи в третьем номере журнала вышли комментарии профессора Ш.Ф. Эрдеса.

Публикация представляет собой комментарии к статье Ш.Ф. Эрдеса, А.Г. Бочковой, Т.В. Дубининой и соавт. «Ранняя дигностика анкилозирующего спондилита, опубликованной в No4 журнала «Научно-практическая ревматология» за 2013 г., в которой была предложена модификация действующих диагностических критериев анкилозирующего спондилита (АС). Авторы настоящих комментариев высказывают предложение отложить работу над определениями отдельных нозологических форм (АС и др.) до согласования концепции спондилоартритов (СпА) и обсуждения определений всех форм СпА. Вследствие необходимости широкого обсуждения и тщательной проработки вопросов терминологии рекомендуется воздержаться от принятия измененных Нью-Йоркских критериев до выполнения дополнительных исследований / получения дополнительной информации.

Aim. To study the role of conventional and new factors of cardiovascular risk in development of atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PA). Material and methods. Sixty patients with psoriatic arthritis, 414 RA patients and 79 healthy controls entered the trial. All of them had no manifestations of cardiovascular diseases. Screening was made of the leading risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular complications, thickness of the complex intima-media (TIM) of the carotid arteries, vascular wall stiffness were measured, vasoregulatory function of the endothelium, markers of endothelial damage were examined. Results. Patients with psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis were found to have increased TIM of the carotid arteries, high incidence of atherosclerotic plaques, increased stiffness, damage of the vascular wall, affected endothelial vasoregulation. These alterations were associated with high arthritis activity, systemic manifestations, seropositivity by rheumatoid factor (in RA), presence of entesitis, uveitis and dactilitis (in psoriatic arthritis), dislipidemia, arterial hypertension (AH). Conclusion. To determine cardiovascular risk in patients with arthritis, it is necessary to consider not only standard risk factors (dislipidemia and AH), but also severity of systemic inflammation, arterial stiffness, endothelial damage and ability of the vascular wall to relax reflecting endothelial dysfunction.

Aim. To study autonomous regulation of cardiac activity in patients with alkylosing spondylitis(AS) according to heart rate variability. Material and methods. A total of 51 male patients aged 35.4 ± 7.3 years with verified AS participated in the trial. Patients with manifest cardiovascular pathology, disturbances of cardiac rhythm or conduction were not included. All the patients were screened for basic cardiovascular risk factors. AS activity was studied with a clinical index BASDAI and acute phase indices. HRV was analysed by 5-min at rest ECG fragments. The control group consisted of 23 healthy males at the age 35.7 ± 11.5 years matched by basic cardiovascular risk factors with AS patients. Results. Basic time and frequency HRV parameters were much lower in AS patients than in healthy controls. A significant negative correlation was found between HRV parameters and acute phase parameters (ESR, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen) evidencing for a significant impact of persistent systemic inflammation on autonomic regulation of cardiac activity consisting in regress of parasympathic and/or enhancement of sympathetic activity and leading to reduction of HRV in AS patients. Conclusion. AS patients have abnormal autonomic regulation of cardiac activity manifesting with subnormal HRV. This is closely related with the activity of systemic inflammation. Reduced HRV may be one of the factors of a high cardiovascular risk in AS patients.