BackgroundThe rate of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Single-center cross-sectional pilot study.ObjectivesMorocco was the first country in Africa to launch the COVID19 vaccination campaign. Vaccination of immunocompromised subjects was recommended from the beginning by the Moroccan Society of Rheumatology.The primary objective of this study was to assess the vaccination rate of patients with rheumatoid arthritis two years after the start of the pandemic. The secondary objective was to investigate factors associated with vaccination.MethodsThis was a 3-month monocentric cross-sectional study from 31.05.22 to 31.08.22, including patients whose age was greater than 18 years, who have rheumatoid arthritis according to ACR/EULAR 2009 criteria. Socio-demographic data, comorbidities and disease characteristics were collected by the attending physician at the time of the consultation using a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using JAMOVI software.ResultsThe study included 73 patients, 82.2% of whom were women. The mean age was 57±11years, with a median disease progression of 8 years. 58 patients (80.6%) were vaccinated against COVID19.Among the vaccinated patients, 30 (51.7%) were illiterate, 8 patients (13.8%) had primary education, 11 (19%) had secondary education and 9 (15.5%) had higher education 53 (91.4%) patients were previously on or on corticosteroids, 8 patients (14, 3%) had a history of tuberculosis, 10 patients (17.5%) had diffuse interstitial lung disease routinely detected on computed Tomography (CT) Scan of the Chest, 26 patients (45.6%) had received a pneumococcal vaccination (p=0.24), and 21 (36.2%) had received an influenza vaccination. 15 patients (25.8%) were on Tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors, 25 patients (43.1%) were on Rituximab, 6 patients (10.3%) were on Tocilizumab, 4 patients (6.9%) were on Methotrexate, 1 patient (1.7%) was on Leflunomide, 1 patient (1.7%) was on Salazopyrine, 2 patients (3.4%) were on csDMARD combinations, and 4 patients (6.9%) were not on any disease-modifying treatment.Only the level of education was statistically significantly different between vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients (p=0.06).ConclusionIn this study, almost 80% of patients were vaccinated. Further studies are needed to develop population-specific education programs.REFERENCES:NIL.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.

BackgroundPrevalence of cachexia in a population of Moroccan women with rheumatoid arthritis.ObjectivesThe objective of our study is to assess body composition in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to healthy controls.MethodsWe conducted a case-control study of 112 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis according to ACR/EULAR 2010 Rheumatoid Arthritis Classification Criteria; and 224 healthy women of the same age. Body composition and bone mineral density (BMD) results were obtained by Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA). Rheumatoid cachexia (RC) was defined as a Lean mass index (LMI) below the 10th percentile and a Fat mass index (FMI) above the 25th percentile compared with the control group. We performed a comparison between RA patients and healthy controls and then performed multiple regression looking for factors associated with rheumatoid cachexia.ResultsThe prevalence of rheumatoid cachexia was 42.85% while the mean body mass index (BMI) was the same in both groups. RA patients had higher fat mass and lower lean mass compared with healthy controls. In our population, 78.60% of patients were on methotrexate and 12.50% on TNF inhibitor. Comparison between patients with and without CR showed that patients with CR have high disease activity, with the presence of more bone erosions. Regression showed that CR was significantly associated with bone erosions and disease activity (OR at 33.31 (8.42- 131.70) and 8.98 (1.64 - 49.20) respectively) This was independent of age, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, duration of disease, cumulative steroid dose, and use of conventional or biologic background therapies.ConclusionOur study showed that nearly half of our RA patients have CR even with high BMI. CR in our work is associated with the presence of high disease activity, and the presence of bone erosions.REFERENCES:NIL.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.

BackgroundSpondyloarthritis (SpA) is a frequent group of chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases, their epidemiology varies considerably in different regions of the world.ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic profile of SpA in the Moroccan population.MethodsThis is a multicenter descriptive study, including patients followed for SpA. 8 hospital centers participated in this study. All data were measured by standard instruments.ResultsSeven hundred patients were included, 54% were men, the mean age was 40.42±14.19 years at the time of diagnosis [14 years-90 years]. The patients lived in urban and rural areas in 83.5% and 13.8% of cases, respectively. 38.4% were without occupation. A history of tuberculosis was noted in 5.9% of cases. Associated pathologies were autoimmune in 2.3% and neoplasia in 1.5% of cases. 15.6% of patients were smokers. A family history of SpA was noted in 11.7%, psoriasis in 1% and Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in 0.6% of cases. The average diagnostic delay was 59.76 months [0-444 months]. The revealing symptomatology was axial in 19%, peripheral in 10.1%, enthesitis in 0.4%, and a combination of the 3 forms in 22.1% of cases. Dactylitis was noted in 2.3% of cases. SpA was non-radiographic in 14% of cases. The forms of SpA were: ankylosing spondylitis (80.1%), IBD associated with SpA (9.4%), psoriatic arthritis (6%), and undifferentiated SpA (4%). Juvenile SpA accounted for 15.5% of cases. The prevalence of HLA-B27 was 65.51%. The mean BASDAI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index) was 4.42 ± 1.67 and the mean ASDAS (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score) was 3.19 ± 1.24. Systemic involvement was dominated by uveitis (11.3%), followed by IBD (9.4%), restrictive syndrome (2.7%), renal involvement (0.6%) including amyloidosis (0.1%), IgA nephropathy (0.4%), interstitial nephropathy (0.1%), and aortic insufficiency in 0.2% of cases. The most commonly used treatments were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (81.7%), sulfasalazine (24.2%), methotrexate (22.9%) and 31.8% of patients were on biotherapy. Surgery for arthroplasty was necessary in 5.6% of patients.ConclusionThis is a study of the clinical and demographic characteristics of Spondyloarthritis in a population in Morocco, on which a large scale data base could be initiated, in order to better determine the role of genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of the disease.References[1]Sharip A, Kunz J. Understanding the Pathogenesis of Spondyloarthritis. Biomolecules. 2020 Oct 20;10(10):1461.[2]Slimani S, Hamdi W, Nassar K, Kalla AA. Spondyloarthritis in North Africa: an update. Clin Rheumatol. 2021 Sep;40(9):3401-10.[3]Wang R, Ward MM. Epidemiology of axial spondyloarthritis: an update. Current Opinion in Rheumatology. 2018 Mar;30(2):137-43.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared