American College of Rheumatology, Oct. 24-29

The annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology was held this year from Oct. 24 to 29 in Chicago, drawing more than 13,000 participants from around the world, including rheumatology specialists, physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals. The conference featured presentations focusing on the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis as well as other rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

In one study, Sinead Maguire, Ph.D., of Our Lady”s Hospital Navan in Dublin, and colleagues found that pregnancies in women with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) face an increased prevalence of certain complications, including severe maternal morbidity (SMM), gestational diabetes, antepartum hemorrhage, and preterm birth.

Using the MOMBABY database, the authors evaluated information for women aged 10 to 55 years with a live birth recorded between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2020. They found that compared with pregnancies in women of the general population, pregnancies among women with axSpA demonstrated a concerning trend toward an increased prevalence of complications.

SMM, a major adverse pregnancy-related physical or psychological event that negatively affects maternal health, confers a high risk for maternal death if left untreated or undetected. SMM has been well documented in the general population but never previously captured in pregnancies among women with axSpA.

“These results highlight the need for further work to recognize SMM in pregnancies of women with axSpA and create an evidence basis for the development of strategies for prevention,” Maguire said.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to AbbVie, Abbott, Novartis, Janssen, and Eli Lilly.

Abstract No. 2200

In another study, Shreya Sakthivel, D.O., of the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and colleagues found a potential benefit for certain cardiometabolic agents, including glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis that goes beyond the well-documented glycemic or weight-management effects.

According to the study results, the patient group receiving GLP-1 receptor agonists had a higher flare composite score compared with the disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-only group and the DMARD + sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor group.

The authors looked further by comparing the before and after treatment periods for each patient group and found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis taking SGLT2 inhibitors experienced a statistically significant reduction in rheumatoid arthritis flares compared with their pretreatment period. The use of GLP-1 receptor agonists also showed a trend toward flare reduction, although the effect was smaller.