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Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease and the prevalence is expected to increase further with ageing of the general population. In this comprehensive Review, Margreet Kloppenburg describes the nonpharmacological and pharmacological management strategies currently available to alleviate the symptoms of hand OA.
Although patients with rheumatoid arthritis now have a better prognosis than those individuals who were diagnosed in previous decades, treatment decisions are still not individualized. In this Review, Annette van der Helm-van Mil describes state of the art approaches to predict disease risk, disease progression, and patient response to therapy.
In this Review the authors provide an account of prostaglandin and leukotriene involvement in muscle health and function. Various components of the arachidonic acid cascade are discussed in relation to their effect on the pathogenesis of inflammatory muscular diseases. Selective modulation of individual components of these pathways are considered as potential therapeutic options for the treatment of polymyositis and dermatomyositis.
Unmet needs in fracture healing have led investigators to question existing paradigms in the hopes of uncovering overlooked solutions. Such is the case in a recent study showing that introduction of a cartilage construct into a mouse tibial defect induces remarkable healing owing to the transformation of donor chondrocytes into new bone.
Several advances in 2013 have improved our understanding of how epigenetic mechanisms affect autoimmune disorders. Many new insights were made into the regulation of gene expression by DNA methylation in systemic lupus erythematosus. For rheumatoid arthritis, complex interrelationships between DNA methylation and microRNAs in regulating gene expression were described.
With every passing year, research on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis benefits from discoveries in other scientific fields. Three of the best examples that illustrate the benefit of such interdisciplinary bridges and the effects they have on our understanding of rheumatoid arthritis are presented here.
The concepts of comorbidity and multimorbidity consider a patient with multiple diseases from different perspectives, which affects how a clinician approaches treatment. In this Perspectives article, Radner and colleagues discuss the concept of multimorbidity and how its integration into daily clinical practice can improve the care of patients with rheumatic conditions.
In this Review, the authors provide an overview of the role of T cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with insights from mouse and human studies. They examine the similarities and differences between RA and mouse arthritis models with respect to T-cell subsets and functions, and also discuss the implications for potential therapies for RA.
The transfer of young patients with rheumatic disease from paediatric to adult health-care provision, usually during adolescence, can have adverse effects on disease in individuals who might already be vulnerable. Herein, the authors discuss transitional health-care procedures that support and encourage young patients to take responsibility for their own health-care requirements, which might improve patient coping and disease outcomes in the long term.
