Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Arthritis Res Ther 2022 Jun 23;24(1):151. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Division of Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Objectives: To estimate associations between fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone and the onset of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs).

Methods: An open cohort of over 6 million adults was constructed from provincial physician billing and hospitalization records between 2000 and 2013. We defined incident SARD cases (SLE, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, polyarteritis nodosa and related conditions, polymyalgia rheumatic, other necrotizing vasculopathies, and undifferentiated connective tissue disease) based on at least two relevant billing diagnostic codes (within 2 years, with at least 1 billing from a rheumatologist), or at least one relevant hospitalization diagnostic code. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 2;13:885142. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Department of Rheumatology, Key Laboratory of Myositis, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.

Objective: To evaluate adrenomedullin mRNA levels in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with dermatomyositis (DM) as well as their correlation with the severity of interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Methods: A total of 41 DM patients and seven immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) patients were recruited, in addition to 21 healthy controls (HCs). The adrenomedullin mRNA levels in PBMCs were measured quantitative reverse-transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Read More

J Appl Lab Med 2022 Jun 18. Epub 2022 Jun 18.

Department of Rheumatology, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Background: Fifteen myositis-specific antibodies have been described and characterized over the past 40 years. Approximately two thirds of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myositis have a myositis-specific antibody and only rarely more than one. Assays to detect them are now widely available within clinical practice. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2022 Jun 17;101(24):e29108. Epub 2022 Jun 17.

Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.

Abstract: The high-dose glucocorticosteroid (GC) treatment is the first choice for dermatomyositis complicated with interstitial lung disease (DM-ILD) but patients are resistant to the high-dose GC monotherapy. Besides, the high dose of GC, the secondary immunosuppressive agent(s) is necessary but there is controversy for the selection of immunosuppressive agent(s). The objectives of the study were to analyze the efficacy of different therapeutic options for DM-ILD to identify the optimal therapy. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 30;13:854848. Epub 2022 May 30.

Department of Pediatrics, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

Background: Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune disease characterized by damage to the skin and muscles. CD4 T cells are of crucial importance in the occurrence and development of dermatomyositis (DM). However, there are few bioinformatics studies on potential pathogenic genes and immune cell infiltration of DM. Read More

J Dtsch Dermatol Ges 2022 06;20(6):861-866

Klinikum Bremen-Ost gGmbH Dermatologie, Dermatochirurgie und Allergologie, Bremen.

Case Rep Rheumatol 2022 6;2022:9096643. Epub 2022 Jun 6.

Department of Rheumatology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Antisynthetase syndrome (ASS) or anti-Jo-1 antibody syndrome has a classic clinical presentation including arthritis, myositis, interstitial lung disease, mechanic hands, and/or Raynaud's phenomenon. The biopsy findings are distinctive from polymyositis or dermatomyositis. We describe an interesting case of ASS where a patient presented with significant muscle weakness, proteinuria, and interstitial lung disease. Read More

Clin Rheumatol 2022 Jun 14. Epub 2022 Jun 14.

Real World Evidence Consultant, Parexel International, Stockholm, Sweden.

Cureus 2022 May 13;14(5):e24973. Epub 2022 May 13.

General Surgery, West Suburban Medical Center, Chicago, USA.

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a rare autoimmune condition that shows an overlap of at least two connective tissue diseases (CTD) including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), scleroderma, Sjögren's syndrome, polymyositis, or dermatomyositis. From a laboratory standpoint, MCTD is associated with high titers of anti-U1-RNP antibodies, which makes it difficult to determine whether it is a variant of each of the respective CTDs or a different entity altogether. Our objective is to report the case of a patient with MCTD presenting with status epilepticus who was ultimately diagnosed with lupus cerebritis. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 27;13:899526. Epub 2022 May 27.

Dermatology, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Background: Vaccination against COVID-19 reduces the risk of severe COVID-19 disease and death. However, few studies have examined the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine in patients with autoimmune skin disease.

Objectives: We sought to determine the incidence of disease exacerbation in this population following COVID-19 vaccination as well as the associated factors. Read More

J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2022 Jun;44(6):700-702

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Montréal, Montréal, QC; Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, Montréal, QC. Electronic address:

Background: Paraneoplastic dermatomyositis following a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is rare. There are very few cases reported on the management of severe forms.

Case: We report the case of a 50-year-old woman diagnosed with stage IIIC high-grade serous ovarian cancer and a severe form of paraneoplastic dermatomyositis requiring mechanical ventilation. Read More

J Clin Med 2022 May 27;11(11). Epub 2022 May 27.

Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea.

Background: Several studies have identified factors associated with the development of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs). However, few have assessed the association between ILD and muscle biopsy findings, including inflammatory marker expressions analyzed using immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Methods: Muscle biopsies from patients who were newly diagnosed with IIMs between 2000 and 2017 were reviewed. Read More

OMICS 2022 Jun 3;26(6):339-347. Epub 2022 Jun 3.

Laboratory of Information Biology, Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.

Drug repurposing has broad importance in planetary health for therapeutics innovation in infectious diseases as well as common or rare chronic human diseases. Drug repurposing has also proved important to develop interventions against the COVID-19 pandemic. We propose a new approach for drug repurposing involving two-stage prediction and machine learning. Read More

Mod Rheumatol 2022 Jun 4. Epub 2022 Jun 4.

Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in the treatment of dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM).

Methods: A comprehensive systematic review was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews And Meta-analyses). PubMed, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched to find articles published between July 1919 and May 2021 concerning IVIG therapy in PM/DM. Read More

Reumatologia 2022 28;60(1):42-52. Epub 2022 Feb 28.

Department of Internal Medicine Shiraz, University of Medical Science, Iran.

Objectives: Nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC) is useful in the evaluation of connective tissue diseases. There are few capillaroscopy examinations in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) using the 2017 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (EULAR/ACR) classification. We evaluated the clinical, laboratory, and NFC in patients with IIMs using 2 classifications. Read More

Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis 2022 24;14:1759720X221100299. Epub 2022 May 24.

Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova, Viale Risorgimento 80, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy.

The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are chronic diseases of the skeletal muscle that comprise various conditions, including dermatomyositis, polymyositis, immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, and the antisynthetase syndrome. Although there are a number of distinguishing features, all these disorders are characterized by an immune and inflammatory response mainly directed against the muscle. Hence, therapy is geared toward curbing the autoimmune and inflammatory response. Read More

JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc 2022 Mar 11;60(247):306-309. Epub 2022 Mar 11.

Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Sinamangal, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Dermatomyositis is an idiopathic inflammatory disease that affects the skin and proximal skeletal muscles. To our best knowledge, there are very few cases of Dermatomyositis reported in Nepal and almost none with respiratory manifestation. We present to you the case of dermatomyositis complicated with interstitial lung disease of a 74 years old male patient with a three-week history of generalized weakness, weight loss, Gottron's papule, and heliotrope rash, with features of interstitial lung disease such as shortness of breath, fever, and productive cough, later confirmed by high-resolution computed tomography. Read More

J Clin Rheumatol 2022 06;28(4):e677

From the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Front Med (Lausanne) 2022 9;9:883699. Epub 2022 May 9.

Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, Nippon Medical School Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Objective: To stratify patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) who were initially treated with an intensive regimen consisting of high-dose corticosteroids, a calcineurin inhibitor, and intravenous cyclophosphamide (triple-combo therapy) into subgroups based on mortality outcomes by a cluster analysis using a large-scale multicenter retrospective cohort of Japanese patients with myositis-associated ILD (JAMI).

Methods: Two-step cluster analysis of preclustering and subsequent hierarchical clustering was conducted in 185 patients who received triple-combo therapy in an unbiased manner. Initial predictors for mortality previously reported in patients with myositis-associated ILD were used as variables and included age, sex, disease duration, classification of myositis, requirement of supplemental oxygen, anti-aminoacyl tRNA synthetase (ARS) antibody, anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody, and serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6). Read More

Mediterr J Rheumatol 2022 Mar 31;33(1):63-67. Epub 2022 Mar 31.

Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.

Distinguishing hereditary forms of myopathy from certain forms of inflammatory myopathy can be challenging. We present 3 cases where a certain degree of overlap was observed between genetics and autoimmunity. A child with juvenile dermatomyositis where heterozygosity for a pathogenic mutation implicated in LGMD1C resulted in a delayed diagnosis. Read More

Aging (Albany NY) 2022 May 24;14(10):4530-4555. Epub 2022 May 24.

Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

Objective: Polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM) are heterogeneous disorders. However, the etiology of PM/DM development has not been thoroughly clarified.

Methods: Gene expression data of PM/DM were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 6;13:879266. Epub 2022 May 6.

Department of Rheumatology, Key Laboratory of Myositis; Beijing Key Laboratory for Immune Mediated Inflammatory Diseases, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.

Objective: The clinical features of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and negative myositis autoantibodies had not been exactly demonstrated previously. This study aimed to describe and expand the phenotype of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in this cohort of patients.

Methods: A total of 1125 consecutive Chinese patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) between 2006 and 2020 were screened retrospectively. Read More

Front Med (Lausanne) 2022 3;9:861419. Epub 2022 May 3.

Institute of Rheumatology, Prague, Czechia.

Background: Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are associated with systemic inflammation, limited mobility, and glucocorticoid therapy, all of which can lead to metabolism disturbances, atherogenesis, and increased cardiovascular (CV) risk. The aim of this study was to assess the CV risk in IIM patients and healthy controls (HC), and its association with disease-specific features.

Methods: Thirty nine patients with IIM (32 females; mean age 56; mean disease duration 4. Read More

J Dtsch Dermatol Ges 2022 06 20;20(6):861-866. Epub 2022 May 20.

Cureus 2022 May 15;14(5):e25016. Epub 2022 May 15.

Internal Medicine, Saint Francis Hospital, Hartford, USA.

Polymyositis is an inflammatory disease that causes bilateral proximal muscle weakness; unlike dermatomyositis, it is not usually associated with malignancy. However, there are a handful of case reports documenting polymyositis in patients with lymphoma, breast, lung, and bladder cancer. Here we report a case of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma disguised by presenting as polymyositis. Read More

Brain Nerve 2022 May;74(5):545-552

Department of Neurology, JA Toride Medical Center.

The majority of inflammatory myositis cases can be cured by immunomodulatory therapies. We recently observed that the phenotype and response to therapies differed according to myositis-specific autoantibodies; therefore, it is essential to select a suitable therapy after thoroughly evaluating the autoantibody, clinical severity, and complications. In some cases, the symptoms can be controlled by steroid monotherapy, but some cases exhibit steroid resistance and require other therapies. Read More

Brain Nerve 2022 May;74(5):537-544

Department of Neurology, Nara Medical University School of Medicine.

Among idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, dermatomyositis and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy are distinguished by their different clinicopathological features. Corticosteroids are administered as the first-line treatment for both, and immunosuppressive agents and intravenous immunoglobulin important second-line treatments. Since some patients show resistance to these therapies, it is necessary to considering additional treatment based on muscle pathology, muscle imaging, and systemic complications such as malignancy and interstitial lung disease, in addition to the careful evaluation of muscle strength. Read More

BMJ Case Rep 2022 May 18;15(5). Epub 2022 May 18.

Systemic Autoimmune and Rares Diseases Unit. Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Virgen del Rocio, Seville, Spain.

Calcinosis cutis (CC) is the umbrella term for calcium salt deposition on skin and subcutaneous tissue. We present a unique case of CC associated with anti-Mi2-positive dermatomyositis, having a distinctive distribution of subcutaneous calcifications appearing as a 'lumbar belt'. Treatment of CC remains challenging for clinicians due to a lack of high-quality evidence. Read More

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2022 May 17. Epub 2022 May 17.

Myositis Support and Understanding, Lincoln, DE.

Objectives: Pain is commonly reported in people living with myositis. This study assesses the presence of pain in the subtypes of myositis as well frequency of opioid and non-opioid pain medication use.

Methods: A survey was developed and distributed by Myositis Support and Understanding, a patient-led advocacy organization, to members of its group. Read More

Eur J Med Res 2022 May 15;27(1):68. Epub 2022 May 15.

Suining Central Hospital, 127 Desheng West Road, Chuanshan, Suining, 629000, Sichuan, China.

Background: Dermatomyositis is a rare idiopathic inflammatory disease with diverse presentations that can have varying degrees of cutaneous and systemic involvement. This phenotypic heterogeneity makes DM a therapeutic challenge. Some therapeutic drugs, such as hormones and immunosuppressants, have poor therapeutic effects. Read More