The Adventures of Beth

From Beth Axtell, Research Communications Specialist for the Arthritis Foundation:

Good afternoon Donna. I'm back in my hotel room after another full day at the conference!

A study was presented about the identification of a disease severity marker in Ankylosing Spondylitis. Dr. Maksymowych explained that of people with AS, a certain percentage will develop an aggressive form that will lead to severe joint damage and complete fusion of the spine (I wish I had written down the percentage -- guess we'll have to wait for the full study or call the researcher). His team's goal was to find some biomarker in people with AS that will predict which ones will develop aggressive disease and structural damage. If these individuals can be identified, they can be started on biologic response modifiers ASAP, which will reduce the liklihood of damage and disability. They found that matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) successfully predicts about 2/3 of those individuals who develop aggressive disease. He also told us that the test for MMP3 is readily available and inexpensive ($15 or less). The team's next step is to test the biomarker in people with earlier disease -- those with early symptoms rather than those who have already expressed radiographic damage.

Dr. Leslie Crofford of the University of Kentucky and her colleagues studied the efficacy over time of pregabalin (an anticonvulsant drug also used for pain) in people with fibromyalgia. This study started out with 1,051 people with fibromyalgia who took pregabalin at different dosages over a course of 6 weeks. At the end of the 6 weeks, those participants whose pain was “much” or “very much” improved stayed in the study taking the dosage of pregabalin that they were able to tolerate and gave them relief. At the end of the first 6 weeks (the open-label phase), 663 participants were randomized to either continue on the pregabalin or to be given a placebo (double-blind phase). The research team found that at the end of the 26-week double-blind phase, 68% of the people receiving pregabalin still felt relief from their pain, whereas 39% of the placebo-treated group felt relief.

Dr. Tam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong presented her results of an acupuncture study in people with RA. She pointed out that several studies have shown pain reduction with acupuncture in people with OA, but that people with RA have not been studied. This study had three arms: one group received electrostimulated acpuncture, one group received traditional acupuncture, and the last group received sham acpuncture (in which the needle was placed in the skim, but only to a depth of 2 mm, whereas the other acupuncture groups had the needles placed at a depth of 10-20 mm). The group receiving the traditional acupuncture received statistically significant imporvement in number of swollen joints, number of tender joints, patient's global assessment, and physician's global assessment.