Curated News: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory follicular disease which causes painful lumps to form under the skin. The lumps typically form in areas where skin rubs together – such as the armpits, groin, and under the breasts. HS can range in severity from occasional fluid-filled abscesses to widespread rope-like scarring, chronic pain, and increase of infection.

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Researchers may have found why viral infections hit males more severely than females. They found that female mouse and human NK cells have an extra copy of an X chromosome-linked gene called UTX. UTX acts as an epigenetic regulator to boost NK cell anti-viral function, while repressing NK cell numbers.

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A Michigan Medicine study has identified a new potential target for treating osteoarthritis – a debilitating joint disease that affects over 31 million Americans and is a leading cause of disability worldwide.

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Juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare but often severe and chronic systemic autoimmune disease, includes a large number of patients who are treatment resistant, requiring long term immunosuppressive therapy. A small open-label study published in Arthritis and Rheumatology shows promise using a targeted biologic therapy called abatacept to treat such patients.

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New research presented this week at ACR Convergence 2022, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, found that the biologic B-cell inhibitor belimumab was associated with a lower risk of severe infections and hospitalizations compared to nonbiologic immunosuppressants.

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New research presented this week at ACR Convergence 2022, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, demonstrated that withholding mycophenolate mofetil for 10 days significantly increased antibody response after 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, without a significant increase in flares.

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New research presented this week at ACR Convergence 2022, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, demonstrated an association between age of diagnosis and clinical characteristics and treatments in Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis patients.

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Using a novel systems biology approach, scientists at UC San Diego School of Medicine have further parsed the cellular players and roles involved in rheumatoid arthritis, a complex disease that affects more than one million Americans in ways that have defied development of uniform treatments.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a pathway in the brains of mice that is activated when the animals see other mice scratching, but that pathway does not run through the visual cortex.

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A new study, led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine, reveals the unique cell-to-cell communication networks that can perpetuate inflammation and prevent repigmentation in patients with vitiligo disease.

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Researchers from the Washington University Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders have identified a specific neuropeptide and a neural circuit that transmit pleasant touch from the skin to the brain. The findings eventually may help scientists better understand and treat disorders characterized by touch avoidance and impaired social development.

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Tracing the impact of a single protein, Piezo1, Penn researchers found that restoring it in muscles affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy could improve their ability to heal efficiently

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A mutation in the gene that causes fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) doesn’t just cause extra bone growth but is tied to a problem in generating new muscle tissue after injury

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Therapies that target aging cells early pave the way to easing back pain