Publications by authors named "Francesca Li Gobbi"

. The Italian Committee for Tailored BIOlogic Therapy (ITABIO), in a first report, has reviewed the literature to identify the best strategy for the choice of second-line biologic therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). To verify the application of ITABIO recommendations in real life and how the recommendations perform in maintaining the health status of patients affected by inflammatory arthritis (RA, SpA, PsA), a database has been developed by Pharmaceutical Governance to evaluate the appropriateness of prescriptions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/objectives: Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) is a severe inflammatory myopathy marked by proximal muscle weakness, elevated creatine kinase (CK), and the presence of anti-HMGCR antibodies. Statin exposure is a recognized trigger for anti-HMGCR-positive IMNM, which may persist despite statin withdrawal. This pilot case series explores, for the first time, the use of bempedoic acid-a liver-specific lipid-lowering agent with minimal muscle toxicity-as an alternative to statins in these patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The extensive research and studies conducted over the past decade have greatly improved our comprehension of the pathogenesis and risk factors associated with Spondyloarthritis (SpA). In addition, they have contributed to the advancement of novel therapeutic approaches. Although genetics still represents the primary risk factor for SpA, increasing evidence presented in this review suggests that environmental factors-such as air pollution, smoking, gut microbiota (GM), infections, and diet-also contribute to its pathogenesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Proteinuria, amyloidosis and kidney failure are the main long-term renal complications of FMF. This study assesses their risk factors, independent of ethnicity or residence.

Methods: Patients' data were drawn from the International AIDA Network registry for monogenic autoinflammatory diseases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study evaluates upadacitinib (UPA) effectiveness and drug retention rate (DRR) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Multicentre prospective observational study. Consecutive patients with RA receiving UPA were evaluated at 0, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To assess the lung involvement in patients with Still's disease, an inflammatory disease assessing both children and adults. To exploit possible associated factors for parenchymal lung involvement in these patients.

Methods: A multicentre observational study was arranged assessing consecutive patients with Still's disease characterized by the lung involvement among those included in the AIDA (AutoInflammatory Disease Alliance) Network Still's Disease Registry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore gender differences in the phenotypical expression of Behçet's disease (BD) using data from the International AIDA Network Registry, focusing on damage index, disease manifestations, and cardiovascular risk.
  • A total of 1024 patients (567 males and 457 females) were examined, revealing that males had a significantly higher overall damage index and more frequent occurrences of uveitis and vascular involvement, while females showed higher instances of arthralgia, arthritis, and CNS involvement.
  • Key factors associated with major organ involvement included male gender, treatment with biologic agents, origin from endemic regions, and longer disease duration, indicating a more severe course of BD in males compared to females.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the recent EULAR recommendations, ultrasound examination is now recommended as a first-line imaging test in all patients with suspected giant cell arteritis (GCA) and the axillary arteries should be included in the standard exam. As an alternative to ultrasound evaluation, cranial and extracranial arteries can be examined using FDG-PET or MRI. The aim of our study was to observe in a retrospective case series whether there is a correlation between biomarkers and imaging activity in a population of patients followed in real life with GCA treated with prednisone (PDN) and tocilizumab (TCZ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: According to recent data, the age of patients could represent an important risk factor for MACE (major cardiovascular events), cancer, and VTE (venous thromboembolism) during treatment with JAK inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis. We decided to analyze the population involved in the ReLiFiRa study by identifying two groups of patients: 65 years or more and less than 65 years of age, evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of 200 mg of Filgotinib daily.

Methods: Of the 120 ReLiFiRa patients, 54 were younger than 65 years old and 66 patients were 65 years old or older.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a tool of growing interest in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) oligo- symptomatic ILD to avoid. : We aimed to evaluate (i) the prevalence of pleural (PLUS) and parenchymal (PAUS) abnormalities in LUS in the RA population and their possible correlation to biomarkers; (ii) the predictivity of gender, smoking habits, previous infections (past COVID-19 tuberculosis), and treatments; (iii) the differences in LUS between sexes. : We collected the data of 155 (15 early and 140 late) RA patients with mild respiratory symptoms, evaluating PLUS and PAUS, in fourteen lung areas and also summing the scores (LUS-T).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The early reliable detection and quantification of autoantibodies play an important role in autoimmune disease diagnosis and in disease-course monitoring. New technologies, such as the multiplexed determination of autoantibodies, have recently been introduced and are being adopted more frequently. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of a new microdot array-based multiparametric assay (ZENIT AMiDot CTD panel, A.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the relationship between Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a severe inflammatory condition, and the risk of cancer development compared to other diseases like fibromyalgia, Still's disease, and Behçet's disease.
  • Results show that FMF patients have a significantly lower risk for malignancies compared to fibromyalgia patients, with a risk ratio (RR) of 0.26; however, this risk is less clear when comparing with the other conditions.
  • Factors influencing cancer risk in FMF patients include age at onset and diagnosis, frequency of disease attacks, and treatment with specific biotechnological agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Real-world evidence of the efficacy and adverse events of JAK inhibitor treatment (Tofacitinib, Baricitinib, Upadacitinib, and Filgotinib) in rheumatoid arthritis is still limited. We studied 115 patients from the Rheumatology Unit of S. Giovanni di Dio Hospital affected by D2T-RA, according to the 2010 EULAR criteria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: We aimed to analyse the incidence and severity of breakthrough infections (BIs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients after a COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination booster dose. : We enrolled 194 RA patients and 1002 healthcare workers (HCWs) as controls. Clinical, lifestyle and demographic factors were collected at the time of the third dose, and immunogenicity analyses were carried out in a subgroup of patients at 4-6 weeks after the third dose.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Behçet's disease (BD) is a heterogeneous multifactorial autoinflammatory disease characterized by a plethora of clinical manifestations. Cutaneous lesions are considered hallmarks of the disease. However, their evolution over time and a thorough description are scarcely reported in non-endemic regions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Filgotinib (FIL) is a selective JAK1 inhibitor with an affinity 30-fold higher than JAK2, approved to treat moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in adults with inadequate response or intolerance to one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicentric study in order to evaluate efficacy and safety of FIL 200 mg daily therapy, after 3 and 6 months, in 120 patients affected by RA, managed in Tuscany and Umbria rheumatological centers. The following clinical records were analyzed: demographical data, smoking status, previous presence of comorbidities (Herpes zoster -HZ- infection, venous thromboembolism -VTE-, major adverse cardiovascular events -MACE-, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension), disease duration, presence of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), rheumatoid factor (RF), number of biological failures, and prior csDMARDs utilized.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that causes progressive joint damage. The Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors (JAK-I) represent a new therapeutic option for RA patients, blocking the intracellular JAK-STAT pathway. Today, no studies have been conducted to determine whether new biomarkers could better reflect disease activity in patients treated with JAK-I than traditional disease activity indicators.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: This paper describes the creation and preliminary results of a patient-driven registry for the collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and patient-reported experiences (PREs) in Behçet's disease (BD).

Methods: The project was coordinated by the University of Siena and the Italian patient advocacy organization SIMBA (Associazione Italiana Sindrome e Malattia di Behçet), in the context of the AIDA (AutoInflammatory Diseases Alliance) Network programme. Quality of life, fatigue, socioeconomic impact of the disease and therapeutic adherence were selected as core domains to include in the registry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Data on the risk of adverse events (AEs) and disease flares in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) after the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine are scarce. The aim of this multicenter, prospective study is to analyze the clinical and immunological safety of BNT162b2 vaccine in a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients followed-up from the first vaccine cycle to the third dose. The vaccine showed an overall good safety profile with no patient reporting serious AEs, and a low percentage of total AEs at both doses (40/78 (51.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The soluble urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor (suPAR) is linked to inflammation and joint damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), activating various inflammatory pathways.
  • Research suggests that suPAR might serve as a biomarker for monitoring inflammation and joint damage in RA, with implications for precision medicine.
  • Current studies indicate that suPAR's role in RA pathogenesis and its interaction with immune cells could lead to enhanced screening and therapeutic approaches, particularly with Jak inhibitors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The present manuscript aims to describe an international, electronic-based, user-friendly and interoperable patient registry for monogenic autoinflammatory diseases (mAIDs), developed in the contest of the Autoinflammatory Diseases Alliance (AIDA) Network.

Methods: This is an electronic platform, based on the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tool, used for real-world data collection of demographics, clinical, laboratory, instrumental and socioeconomic data of mAIDs patients. The instrument has flexibility, may change over time based on new scientific acquisitions, and communicate potentially with other similar registries; security, data quality and data governance are corner stones of the platform.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease whose natural history leads to articular and extra-articular damage. Both cardiovascular risk and malignancy risk results higher in RA patients, compared to general population. Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis) are oral targeted synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (tsDMARDs) that disrupt cytokine cascade and exert anti-inflammatory effects by interfering with signaling through the JAK-STAT intracellular pathways.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The aim of this paper is to present the AutoInflammatory Disease Alliance (AIDA) international Registry dedicated to Vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, Autoinflammatory, Somatic (VEXAS) syndrome, describing its design, construction, and modalities of dissemination.

Methods: This Registry is a clinical, physician-driven, population- and electronic-based instrument designed for the retrospective and prospective collection of real-life data. Data gathering is based on the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tool and is intended to obtain real-world evidence for daily patients' management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We investigated how the non-medical switching (NMS) between Etanercept (ETN)/originator and SB4/biosimilar affects treatment efficacy in a rheumatic disease (RD) cohort, evaluating some laboratory parameters as loss of efficacy predictors after NMS.

Methods: We enrolled 124 patients with RD (rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis): 79 switchers from ETN/originator to SB4 and 45 naïve patients receiving SB4 (first biological treatment). At baseline, 6 (T1), and 12 months (T2), clinical and laboratory parameters were evaluated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF