Review Articles in 2017

Rheumatic diseases can affect sexual health, which can sometimes be overlooked by health professionals. In this Review, the author discusses the effect of rheumatic diseases and anti-rheumatic drugs on a patients' fertility and sexual functioning, and highlights how this knowledge should improve the managing and counselling of patients with rheumatic disease.

In this Review, the authors summarize the different types of pain experienced by patients with ankylosing spondylitis, the underlying neurobiology and studies that are providing insights into the complex interplay between the immune system and neural pain-processing pathways.

Specific patterns of joint and organ involvement exist in different rheumatic diseases. Ospelt and Frank-Bertoncelj delve into the reasons behind these patterns, and what they mean for future research into rheumatic disease pathogenesis.

In this review, the authors discuss the role of IL-6 in the defence against infection, outlining insight gained from both preclinical and clinical studies, and examining the effects of IL-6-targeting therapies on immunocompetence and its clinical implications.

This Review discusses the major insights gained from genetic studies in rheumatic diseases, such as genome-wide association studies, meta-analyses, fine-mapping and studies performed across different diseases and/or ethnicities, which have vastly increased our understanding of these diseases.

A growing body of evidence supports a shift away from bed rest and inactivity to prescribing physical activity for children and adolescents with rheumatic diseases. Increasing physical activity levels, as well as reducing hypoactivity, can improve symptoms and outcomes in this paediatric population.

With the ageing population, sarcopenia is becoming a public health concern. However, controversy remains over how it can best be defined. In this Review, the authors discuss the various approaches to defining sarcopenia, its prevalence and potential lifestyle modifications and potential therapeutic strategies.

In this Review, the authors discuss the latest insights into the genetic associations and pathological mechanisms of ankylosing spondylitis, in particular HLA-B27-mediated pathology, antigen-presentation pathways and the role of type 3 immunity.

Components of the human diet can have a profound effect on the way in which the human body responds to its environment. In this Review, the authors discuss several common dietary factors, outlining their effects on the development and progression of autoimmune rheumatic diseases via a common factor — the microbiome.

Metabolic reprogramming of immune cells and somatic cells alike has a role in perpetuating disease in the joints. In this Review, the authors examine metabolic alterations that occur in the main cells of the joint tissues during osteoarthritis.

Metabolic reprogramming of immune cells in disease has functional consequences and presents potential therapeutic opportunities. In this Review, Weyand & Goronzy examine the role of immunometabolism in rheumatoid arthritis, looking particularly at the different metabolic pathways used in early and late stages of disease.

Metabolic abnormalities have been reported in immune cells in lupus, notably in T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) but also in other immune cell types. This Review discusses recent clinical and experimental evidence for cell-specific metabolic dysfunction in SLE, and the potential therapeutic benefit of targeting these processes.

The need for energy permeates every aspect of the life of immune cells, being especially important during periods of transition and differentiation such as during inflammation. In this Review, the authors provide an overview of the processes and pathways involved in immunometabolism.

In this Review, the authors discuss the function of the TNF and TNF receptor superfamily, their role in rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, and how current knowledge is being translated into potential disease therapies.

Several different autoantibody systems recognizing post-translationally modified proteins have been identified in rheumatoid arthritis, beyond the well-known rheumatoid factors and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies. This Review summarizes what is known about the presence and properties of these emerging autoantibodies, in particular those recognizing carbamylated proteins.

Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors are emerging therapeutic agents for the treatment of rheumatic inflammatory diseases. In this Review, the author outlines the safety profile of JAK inhibitors, discussing the potential adverse effects associated with these drugs, such as malignancy, infections and reactivation of herpes zoster.

In this Review, the authors discuss the therapeutic application of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in different autoimmune diseases, describing the immunological mechanisms and the risks and benefits of this procedure.

Ectopic lymphoid structures have been identified in the target organs of a subset of patients with rheumatic autoimmune diseases. This Review describes these structures and summarizes our current understanding of how they form, function and contribute to autoimmunity.

This Review outlines what a rheumatologist needs to know about the development and advances in CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technologies. The authors discuss the direct applications to rheumatic diseases, which are currently limited but are certain to increase rapidly in the near future.

Metabolomics and genomics approaches have produced huge amounts of data from patient samples, creating many research opportunities. In this Review, the authors discuss how these datasets can be brought together to enrich our knowledge of rheumatic diseases.