{"title":"From Web to RheumaLpack: Creating a Linguistic Corpus for Exploitation and Knowledge Discovery in Rheumatology","authors":"Alfredo Madrid-García, Beatriz Merino-Barbancho, Dalifer Freites-Núñez, Luis Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Ernestina Menasalvas-Ruíz, Alejandro Rodríguez-González, Anselmo Peñas","doi":"10.1101/2024.04.26.24306269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.26.24306269","url":null,"abstract":"This study introduces <em>RheumaLinguisticpack</em> (<em>RheumaLpack</em>), the first specialised linguistic web corpus designed for the field of musculoskeletal disorders. By combining web mining (i.e., web scraping) and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, as well as clinical expertise, <em>RheumaL-pack</em> systematically captures and curates data across a spectrum of web sources including clinical trials registers (i.e., ClinicalTrials.gov), bibliographic databases (i.e., PubMed), medical agencies (i.e. EMA), social media (i.e., Reddit), and accredited health websites (i.e., MedlinePlus, Hardvard Health Publishing, and Cleveland Clinic). Given the complexity of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and their significant impact on quality of life, this resource can be proposed as a useful tool to train algorithms that could mitigate the diseases’ effects. Therefore, the corpus aims to improve the training of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and facilitate knowledge discovery in RMDs. The development of <em>RheumaLpack</em> involved a systematic six-step methodology covering data identification, characterisation, selection, collection, processing, and corpus description. The result is a non-annotated, monolingual, and dynamic corpus, featuring almost 3 million records spanning from 2000 to 2023. <em>RheumaLpack</em> represents a pioneering contribution to rheumatology research, providing a useful resource for the development of advanced AI and NLP applications. This corpus highlights the value of web data to address the challenges posed by musculoskeletal diseases, illustrating the corpus’s potential to improve research and treatment paradigms in rheumatology. Finally, the methodology shown can be replicated to obtain data from other medical specialities. The code and details on how to build <em>RheumaL(inguistic)pack</em> are also provided to facilitate the dissemination of such resource.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140830950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Begonya Alcacer-Pitarch, Marco Di Battista, Anthony C. Redmond, Anne-Maree Keenan, Stefano Di Donato, Maya H. Buch, Francesco Del Galdo
{"title":"Prevalence and impact of foot peripheral neuropathy in Sytemic Sclerosis (SSc): results from a single centre cross-sectional study","authors":"Begonya Alcacer-Pitarch, Marco Di Battista, Anthony C. Redmond, Anne-Maree Keenan, Stefano Di Donato, Maya H. Buch, Francesco Del Galdo","doi":"10.1101/2024.04.12.24305730","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.12.24305730","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Introduction</strong> Peripheral Sensory Neuropathy (PSN) is an under-recognized feature in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Moreover, SSc foot involvement is frequent but poorly investigated. We aimed to provide a detailed characterization of foot peripheral neuropathy in a large cohort of SSc patients, describing its associations with disease-specific features, physical disability and Quality of Life (QoL).","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140612427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah F. Bradford, Christophe J. Lalaurie, Jayesh Gor, Xin Gao, Charis Pericleous, Stephen J. Perkins, Hannah Britt, Konstantinos Thalassinos, Ian Giles, Anisur Rahman, Mihaela Delcea, Paul A. Dalby, Thomas C.R. McDonnell
{"title":"Plasmin Cleavage of Beta-2-Glycoprotein I Alters its Structure and Ability to Bind to Pathogenic Antibodies","authors":"Hannah F. Bradford, Christophe J. Lalaurie, Jayesh Gor, Xin Gao, Charis Pericleous, Stephen J. Perkins, Hannah Britt, Konstantinos Thalassinos, Ian Giles, Anisur Rahman, Mihaela Delcea, Paul A. Dalby, Thomas C.R. McDonnell","doi":"10.1101/2024.04.12.24305747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.12.24305747","url":null,"abstract":"Beta-2-Glycoprotein I (β2GPI) is the main autoantigenic target of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) with antibodies leading to clinical manifestations. There are two known structural isomers of β2GPI, a J shape and a circular shaped one. The transition between these structures is incompletely understood, with the functional implications unknown. β2GPI is a substrate of the protease plasmin, which cleaves within the fifth domain of β2GPI leading to altered cellular binding. Very little is currently known regarding the structure and function of this protein variant. We present the first comprehensive structural characterisation plasmin-clipped β2GPI and the associated implications for pathogenic antibody binding to this protein.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140612269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ben Hammond, Aliaksandra Baranskaya, Nicola Adderley, Dawit Zemedikun, Alexander d’Elia, Marie Falahee, Christian Mallen, Elspeth Insch, Joht Singh Chandan, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar, Kym Snell, Karim Raza
{"title":"Protocol for the development and validation of a Rheumatoid Arthritis PredIction moDel using primary care health records (RAPID)","authors":"Ben Hammond, Aliaksandra Baranskaya, Nicola Adderley, Dawit Zemedikun, Alexander d’Elia, Marie Falahee, Christian Mallen, Elspeth Insch, Joht Singh Chandan, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar, Kym Snell, Karim Raza","doi":"10.1101/2024.04.09.24305328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.09.24305328","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Background</strong> Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic rheumatological condition which causes inflammation of both the joint lining and extra-articular sites. It affects around 1% of the UK population and, if not properly treated, can lead joint damage, disability, and significant socioeconomic burden. The risk of long-term damage is reduced if treatment is started in an early disease stage with treatment in the first 3 months being associated with significantly improved clinical outcomes. However, treatment is often delayed due to long referral waits and challenges in identifying early RA in primary care. We plan to use large primary care datasets to develop and validate an RA risk prediction model for use in primary care, with the aim to provide an additional mechanism for early diagnosis and referral for treatment.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140591307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mickael Essouma, Daniel Brito de Araujo, Jessica Day, Latika Gupta, Adina Kay Knight, Ann Reed, Elie Naddaf, Adriana Maluf Elias Sallum, Edoardo Marrani, Edoardo Conticini, Simone Appenzeller, Adina Kay Knight, Mazen Dimachkie, Tamima Mohamad Abou, Daren Gibson, Eva Kirkhus, Anneke J van der Koi, James B Lilleker, Matteo Lucchini, Pedro Machado, Mary Anne Riopel, Helga Sanner, Adam Schiffenbauer, Julio Brandao Guimaraes, Claudia Saad-Magalhaes, Susan O'Hanlon, Clarissa Harumi Omori, Susan Phaneuf, Helga Sanner, Siamak Moghadam-Kia, Mirkamal Tolend, Iazsmin Bauer Ventura, Lisa G Rider, Lisa Christopher-Stine, Julie J Paik, Brian Feldman, Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo, Andrea Schwarz Doria
{"title":"A protocol for a scoping review on the role of whole-body and dedicated body-part magnetic resonance imaging for assessment of adult and juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies","authors":"Mickael Essouma, Daniel Brito de Araujo, Jessica Day, Latika Gupta, Adina Kay Knight, Ann Reed, Elie Naddaf, Adriana Maluf Elias Sallum, Edoardo Marrani, Edoardo Conticini, Simone Appenzeller, Adina Kay Knight, Mazen Dimachkie, Tamima Mohamad Abou, Daren Gibson, Eva Kirkhus, Anneke J van der Koi, James B Lilleker, Matteo Lucchini, Pedro Machado, Mary Anne Riopel, Helga Sanner, Adam Schiffenbauer, Julio Brandao Guimaraes, Claudia Saad-Magalhaes, Susan O'Hanlon, Clarissa Harumi Omori, Susan Phaneuf, Helga Sanner, Siamak Moghadam-Kia, Mirkamal Tolend, Iazsmin Bauer Ventura, Lisa G Rider, Lisa Christopher-Stine, Julie J Paik, Brian Feldman, Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo, Andrea Schwarz Doria","doi":"10.1101/2024.03.26.24304925","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.26.24304925","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Currently, there is lack of standardization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scoring systems and protocols for assessment of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) in children and adults among treatment centres across the globe. Therefore, we will perform scoping reviews of the literature to inform available semi-quantitative and quantitative MRI scoring systems and protocols for the assessment and monitoring of skeletal muscle involvement in patients with IIMs with the final goal of providing evidence-based information for the future development of a universal standardized MRI scoring system in specific research and clinical settings in this population.\u0000Methods. Electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane) will be searched to select relevant articles published from January 2000 to October 2023. Data will be synthesized narratively.\u0000Discussion. This scoping review will extensively map evidence on the indications, utility for diagnosis and assessment of disease activity and damage using skeletal muscle MRI in IIMs. The results will allow the development of consensus recommendations for clinical practice and enable the standardization of research methods for MRI assessment of skeletal muscle changes in patients with IIMs.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140311001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Josephine Yen Fang, Saravanan Ayyadurai, Alyssa F. Pybus, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mark G. Qian
{"title":"Exploring the Diagnostic Potential of miRNA Signatures in the Fabry Disease Serum: A Comparative Study of Automated and Manual Sample Isolations","authors":"Josephine Yen Fang, Saravanan Ayyadurai, Alyssa F. Pybus, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mark G. Qian","doi":"10.1101/2024.03.25.24304836","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.25.24304836","url":null,"abstract":"Fabry disease, an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by galactosidase alpha (GLA) gene mutations, exhibits diverse clinical manifestations, and poses significant diagnostic challenges. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for improved patient outcomes, pressing the need for reliable biomarkers. In this study, we aimed to identify miRNA candidates as potential biomarkers for Fabry disease using the KingFisher™ automated isolation method and NanoString nCounter® miRNA detection assay. Clinical serum samples were collected from both healthy subjects and Fabry disease patients. RNA extraction from the samples was performed using the KingFisher™ automated isolation method with the MagMAX mirVanaTM kit or manually using the Qiagen miRNeasy kit. The subsequent NanoString nCounter® miRNA detection assay showed consistent performance and no correlation between RNA input concentration and raw count, ensuring reliable and reproducible results. Interestingly, the detection range and highly differential miRNA between the control and disease groups were found to be distinct depending on the isolation method employed. Nevertheless, enrichment analysis of miRNA-targeting genes consistently revealed significant associations with angiogenesis pathways in both isolation methods. Additionally, our investigation into the impact of enzyme replacement therapy on miRNA expression indicated that some differential miRNAs may be sensitive to treatment. Our study provides valuable insights to identify miRNA biomarkers for Fabry disease. While different isolation methods yielded various detection ranges and highly differential miRNAs, the consistent association with angiogenesis pathways suggests their significance in disease progression. These findings lay the groundwork for further investigations and validation studies, ultimately leading to the development of non-invasive and reliable biomarkers to aid in early diagnosis and treatment monitoring for Fabry disease.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"99 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140302643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Luis Miguel Pedraza-Meza, Ana Laura Hernandez-Ledesma, Alejandra E. Ruiz-Contreras, Alejandra Medina-Rivera, Domingo Martinez
{"title":"Clinical, psychosocial and demographic factors affect decisions in SLE people","authors":"Luis Miguel Pedraza-Meza, Ana Laura Hernandez-Ledesma, Alejandra E. Ruiz-Contreras, Alejandra Medina-Rivera, Domingo Martinez","doi":"10.1101/2024.03.25.24304643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.25.24304643","url":null,"abstract":"Neurological and psychiatric manifestations affect most lupus individuals and include depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and cognitive dysfunction. Although there is evidence supporting suboptimal decision-making in lupus and its association with glucocorticoids consumption, it is not clear what variables impact such decisions. The aim of this study is to explore how social, clinical, psychological, and demographic factors impact social and temporal decision-making in people with lupus. Through a within-subjects experimental-design, our participants responded to social, clinical, psychological, and demographic electronic questionnaires. Then, they participated in two behavioral economics experiments: the third-party dictator game, and the delay discounting task. Our results show that hostility, and age are essential predictors of social decisions, whereas obsessive-compulsiveness and anxiety better predict temporal decisions. These variables behave as expected, but anxiety shows unexpected results: most anxious people act patiently and prefer delayed but bigger rewards. Finally, clinical factors are critical decision predictors for social and temporal decisions. When people are in remission, they tend to impose higher punishment on those who violate the social norm, and they also tend to prefer immediate rewards. When taking glucocorticoids, they also prefer immediate rewards, and as the dosage of glucocorticoids intake increases, they tend to impose higher punishment on norm violators. Clinicians, researchers, and practitioners must consider the side effects of glucocorticoids on decision-making.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140302917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jie Zhang, Xinyu Fang, Jingwei Wu, Zixing Zhang, Min Mu, Dongqing Ye
{"title":"Identifying therapeutic targets for rheumatoid arthritis by genomics-driven integrative approaches","authors":"Jie Zhang, Xinyu Fang, Jingwei Wu, Zixing Zhang, Min Mu, Dongqing Ye","doi":"10.1101/2024.03.19.24304536","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.19.24304536","url":null,"abstract":"Genomics-driven drug discovery holds significant promise in identifying and developing novel therapeutic targets. Here, we utilized large-scale genomic data including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), rare variant burden tests in exome sequencing studies (Exome), and protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL), to prioritize therapeutic targets or repurpose drugs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We found that prioritized genes covering two approved RA treatment targets (IL6R and CD86), along with several targets currently undergoing active clinical trials for RA. Fifteen proteins were identified as having causalities with RA risk, and three out of them showed strong support for colocalization. BRD2 was nominated as one of the most promising candidates for clinical translation as its wide expression in joint synovial tissues and validation in observational analyses associating with RA incidence. Collectively, our systematic prioritization of drug targets from different genetically informed approaches, and provided a comprehensive insight into therapeutic strategies for RA.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"276 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140205606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lennart Seizer, Johanna Gostner, Christoph Garbers, Melina Licht, Sebastian Sager, Christian Schubert
{"title":"Endocrine, immune, and disease dynamics in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis during flare and medication change","authors":"Lennart Seizer, Johanna Gostner, Christoph Garbers, Melina Licht, Sebastian Sager, Christian Schubert","doi":"10.1101/2024.03.18.24304149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.18.24304149","url":null,"abstract":"Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease of widely unknown etiology and pathophysiology. In this integrative single-case study on a patient with RA, we had the unique opportunity to closely monitor the individual dynamics of endocrine, immune and disease variables during a naturally occurring flare-up and subsequent medication change. The female RA patient collected her entire urine over 30 days in 12-h intervals (60 consecutive measurements in total). Subsequently, interleukin-6 (IL-6), orosomucoid-2, cortisol (ELISA), neopterin and creatinine (HPLC) levels were determined in the urine samples. Further, each morning and evening, the patient completed the DIARI, a set of questionnaires on variables such as subjective pain, subjective RA disease activity and emotional states. Once a week, besides an online video interview, the patient had an appointment at her rheumatologist, in which several indices of RA disease activity were determined: SDAI, CDAI and DAS28. From these data various time series were constructed for statistical analysis. RA disease state increased from low to high activity during the first 12 study days. Thereupon, the medication was changed, which proved effective in reducing RA disease activity. However, the levels of urinary neopterin, urinary orosomucoid-2 and urinary IL-6 did not show any response, neither to the increasing disease activity nor the medication change. The patient's daily reports on pain, RA disease activity and emotional states, however, mirrored the course of the rheumatologic indices. For the patient studied, urinary neopterin, urinary orosomucoid-2 and urinary IL-6 levels did not represent adequate biomarkers of short-term variations in RA disease activity. Patient-reported outcomes on the other hand might be a useful tool in the ambulatory and longitudinal monitoring of RA.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"159 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140168128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CLAUDIA DINIZ LOPES MARQUES, Marcelo Pinheiro, Jeniffer Lopes, Sandra Lucia Euzebio Ribeiro, Mary Vania Marinho Castro, Lilian David de Azevedo Valadares, Aline Ranzolin, Nicole Pamplona Bueno de Andrada, Rafaela Cavalheiro do Espirito Santo, Nafice Costa Araujo, Cintya Martins Vieira, Valeria Valim, Flavia Santos, Laurindo Ferreira da Rocha Junior, Adriana Maria Kakehasi, Ana Paula Monteiro Gomides Reis, Edgard Torres Neto, Gecilmara Pilegii, Gilda Aparecida Ferreira, Licia Mota, Odirlei Monticielo, Ricardo Machado Xavier
{"title":"COVID-19 Impact on Patients with Immune-Mediated Rheumatic Disease: A Comparative Study of Disease Activity and Psychological Well-Being Over Six Months","authors":"CLAUDIA DINIZ LOPES MARQUES, Marcelo Pinheiro, Jeniffer Lopes, Sandra Lucia Euzebio Ribeiro, Mary Vania Marinho Castro, Lilian David de Azevedo Valadares, Aline Ranzolin, Nicole Pamplona Bueno de Andrada, Rafaela Cavalheiro do Espirito Santo, Nafice Costa Araujo, Cintya Martins Vieira, Valeria Valim, Flavia Santos, Laurindo Ferreira da Rocha Junior, Adriana Maria Kakehasi, Ana Paula Monteiro Gomides Reis, Edgard Torres Neto, Gecilmara Pilegii, Gilda Aparecida Ferreira, Licia Mota, Odirlei Monticielo, Ricardo Machado Xavier","doi":"10.1101/2024.03.18.24304464","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.18.24304464","url":null,"abstract":"Objectives: To compare the impact of COVID-19 on clinical status and psychological condition in patients with immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRD) infected by SARS-CoV-2 with IMRD controls not infected, during a 6-month follow-up.\u0000Methods: The ReumaCoV Brasil is a longitudinal study designed to follow-up IMRD patients for 6 months after COVID-19 (cases) compared with IMRD patients no COVID-19 (controls). Clinical data, disease activity measurements and current treatment regarding IMRD, and COVID-19 outcomes were evaluated in all patients. Disease activity was assessed through validated tools at inclusion and at 3 and 6 months post-COVID-19. The FACIT-F (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy) and DASS 21 (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items) questionnaires were also applied at 6 months after COVID-19 in both groups before large-scale vaccination. The significance level was set as p<0.05, with a 95% confidence interval.\u0000Results: A total of 601 patients were evaluated, being 321 cases (IMRD COVID-19+) and 280 controls (IMRD COVID-19 -), predominantly female with similar median age. No significant differences were noted in demographic data between the groups, including comorbidities, disease duration, and IMRD. Disease activity assessment over a 6-month follow-up showed no significant difference between cases and controls. While mean activity scores did not differ significantly, some patients reported worsened disease activity post-COVID-19, particularly in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (32.2%) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (23.3%). Post-COVID-19 worsening in RA patients correlated with medical global assessment (MGA) and CDAI scores, with a moderate to large effect size. Diabetes mellitus showed a positive association (OR=7.15), while TNF inhibitors showed a protective effect (OR=0.51). Comparing SLEDAI pre- and post-COVID-19, a minority showed increased scores, with few requiring treatment changes. Fatigue, depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher in cases compared to controls. Worsening disease activity post-COVID correlated with worsened FACIT-F and DASS-21 stress scale in RA patients. No significant associations were found between COVID-19 outcomes and post-COVID-19 disease activity or psychological assessments. Conclusions: Post-COVID-19 IMRD patients show significant psychological well-being deterioration despite similar disease activity scores. The variability in reports on IMRD flares and the potential trigger of SARS-CoV-2 for autoimmune manifestations underline the need for detailed clinical assessment and a comprehensive approach to managing them.","PeriodicalId":501212,"journal":{"name":"medRxiv - Rheumatology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140168066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}