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Risk Factors for Bisphosphonate Associated Jaw Osteonecrosis

Gastrointestinal complications, including esophageal mucosal ulceration, are the most frequent complications of bisphosphonate therapy, commonly used to treat osteoporosis, metabolic bone diseases (such as Pagets disease), multiple myeloma, and to inhibit metastatic solid tumor progression. Recent case reports have emphasized a less frequent complication of bisphosphonate therapy: osteonecrosis of the jaws. However, due to its rarity, little is know about the epidemiology of this potentially troublesome complication.

Impact of RA Disease Activity and Treatment on the Risk of Developing Lymphoma

Hematologic malignancies, particularly lymphomas, are more prevalent in RA patients. Case reports have suggested an association between RA therapeutics and the development of lymphoma, although it has been problematic using conventional epidemiologic methods to disassociate the potential for the RA disease process, presumably mediated through chronic systemic inflammation, to contribute to this risk. These concerns have limited the use of RA therapies in some patients.

Predictors of Increased Carotid Atherosclerosis in RA Patients

RA patients are at an increased risk for cardiovascular events and death from cardiovascular disease. In the general population, and in RA patients (Jane, link to ACR2005 abstract 1901), carotid atherosclerosis (defined by identification of a thickened intima-medial or plaque using ultrasound) is highly predictive of cardiovascular events. Despite this, previous studies have not identified a clear-cut increased risk for carotid plaque in individuals with RA compared to non-RA controls.

Ability of the PTPN22 1858C/T SNP to Predict RA Development

A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the PTPN22 gene has recently been shown to associate with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a strength of association second only to that of the HLA region encoding the MHC class II shared epitope (SE). To date, the mechanism by which the altered PTPN22 gene contributes to the pathogenesis of RA has largely been unstudied.