Immunology

Across 2024, top immunology news focused on ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, highlighting studies on gut bacteria, radiographic progression, socioeconomic factors, and bimekizumab's persistent efficacy across multiple disease states.

In the continuation of our discussion with Chris Sayed, MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Dermatology, he discusses the benefits of subcutaneous treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa, the chronic inflammatory skin condition.

Presentations at the 2024 Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit focused on reshaping specialty pharmacy while keeping patients front and center.

On November 20, the FDA approved bimekizumab (Bimzelx; UCB Pharma) for use in patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa.

This approval is the fifth overall for bimekizumab (Bimzelx; UCB Pharma) in the US, and they all have come in the last 13 months.

A trio of abstracts presented at ACR Convergence 2024, the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, bear out the benefits of bimekizumab (Bimzelx; UCB Pharma) for use against active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Investigators were seeking a greater understanding of risk factors for hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic inflammatory skin disease, concentrating on how it presents in skin of color.

In this study, investigators were seeking to uncover potential genetic correlations between hidradenitis suppurativa and downstream risk of cardiometabolic disease, such as coronary artery disease (CAD) and diabetes, in older adults.

Novel evidence has emerged from a 16-year study that hidradenitis suppurativa can elevate risks of not only pregnancy and postpartum complications, but of morbidity—particularly metabolic- and immunology-related morbidity—for mother and child in the long term.

These authors investigated the potential influence of gut microbiota on ankylosing spondylitis pathophysiology.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory, chronic disease with very high symptom and physical burdens, and it can get progressively worse over time if it's inadequately treated, explained Amit Garg, MD, founding chair, Department of Dermatology, Northwell Health.

Individuals with self-reported moderate to severe psoriatic arthritis (PsA) face a higher disease burden, particularly among Black participants, highlighting the need for a better understanding of the interplay between PsA severity and racial and ethnic disparities.

Previous research has linked hidradenitis suppurativa to infertility, but concrete data are lacking on causality of the chronic inflammatory skin condition in this setting.

Bimekizumab-bkzx (Bimzelx) is now FDA approved for 4 chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: psoriatic arthritis, nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), ankylosing spondylitis, and moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

New findings add to the understanding of the patient experience in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), which can help inform patient-centered clinical care.

The FDA approved benralizumab (Fasenra) for adult patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).

There were no differences in risk between patients with RA or PsA using or not using methotrexate.

Investigators noted that a formal independent validation cohort needs to be developed to realize the full potential of the human model.

Treatment with bimekizumab showed consistent efficacy through 52 weeks in patients with psoriatic arthritis in a post hoc analysis of the BE OPTIMAL, BE COMPLETE, and BE VITAL trials.

Lumbar spine bone mineral density improved significantly and was maintained during long-term tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) treatment for axial spondyloarthritis.

The proportion of allergists accepting Medicaid in the US varied significantly among and within states.

Responders at week 104 demonstrated more significant changes from baseline and achieved normative values in PROs compared with non-responders.

A session on the final day of the 2024 Congress of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology explored the connections between autoimmune disease and cardiac events.

The authors of the new meta-analysis aimed to provide an update on the association between ankylosing spondylitis and cancer incidence.

A new report offers safety and efficacy data on a population with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) not represented in the drug’s pivotal phase 3 trial.

Factors independently associated with persistently active RA included age, gender, previous or current smoking status, and social deprivation.

A literature review plus in-person visits helped identify barriers to quality rheumatoid arthritis care, as well as effective interventions to improve care quality.

A new case report details the successful use of efgartigimod as a rescue medication in a patient with therapy-refractory myasthenic crisis.

Patients with axial spondyloarthritis who took part in exercise therapy showed improvements in disease activity and symptoms compared with patients who did not, a meta-analysis found.

Pain improvement was associated with remission or low disease activity in patients undergoing treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, a study found.