US-PD remission occurs in half of patients with ERA and in a minority of patients with LSRA in clinical remission. Early disease seems to be the major determinant of full remission.

Data suggest that being female, overweight and mostly obese is associated with a lower rate of success in obtaining response status in axial SpA patients treated with anti-TNF drugs. Body weight could represent a modifiable factor to reach the best outcome in axial SpA patients treated with TNF blockers.

Objective. To investigate the effect of pilocarpine on the salivary peptide and protein profile in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and to study the differences between patients with primary SS, patients with SS associated with other rheumatic diseases, and healthy control subjects.Methods. Saliva specimens were obtained from 9 primary SS patients, 9 secondary SS patients, and 10 healthy controls. Samples were analyzed for levels of 62 different salivary proteins using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry using a spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source. In 6 of the primary SS patients, saliva was collected at 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 24 hours after taking 5 mg of pilocarpine.Results. Before pilocarpine, ϳ60% of salivary proteins in samples from primary SS patients were not identifiable or showed lower levels than those in healthy controls. After 30-60 minutes following pilocarpine treatment, approximately one-third of the less represented proteins was found in a similar percentage of primary SS patients and controls. Almost all of the proteins that were detectable at lower levels in primary SS patients compared with controls reached levels similar to those in controls at 30-60 minutes after pilocarpine. The parotid gland proteins had the best response to pilocarpine. Primary SS patients were characterized by higher ␣-defensin 1 levels and by the presence of ␤-defensin 2. Secondary SS patients showed an intermediate protein profile between that of the primary SS patients and the controls. Conclusion. Pilocarpine partially restored the levels and numbers of identifiable proteins in saliva from patients with primary SS. Higher levels of ␣-defensin 1 and the presence of ␤-defensin 2 in the saliva of patients with primary SS could be markers of oral inflammation in this patient group.Saliva is a complex fluid composed of a variety of electrolytes, metabolites, nucleotides, polynucleotides, and proteins. This fluid plays an important role in the maintenance of oral health. The rate of salivary protein secretion is controlled mainly by noradrenaline, which is released from the sympathetic terminals and acts through the ␤-adrenergic receptors. The rate of fluid and electrolyte secretion is controlled by acetylcholine, which is released from the parasympathetic terminals and acts through the muscarinic cholinergic receptors.A large number of systemic agents have been proposed as secretagogues, but only a few have shown consistent salivary secretion-enhancing properties in well-designed trials. Among cholinergic agonists, studies in rats have shown that pilocarpine is the most effective for protein secretion (1) and has mild ␤-adrenergic stimulatory properties; however, few data in humans have been reported. Pilocarpine has been shown to improve symptoms of oral dryness and to increase salivary output in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) (2), a chronic autoimmune disorder of the exocrine glands with associated lymphocytic infiltrates and con...

ObjectiveTo define the synovial characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in clinical and ultrasound remission achieved by combination therapy with methotrexate (MTX) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers.MethodsPatients with RA in remission (n=25) (disease activity score (DAS)<1.6 for at least 6 months), patients with RA in low disease activity (LDA) (n=10) (1.6