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Objective: to evaluate the efficacy and safety of glycosaminoglycan-peptide complex (GPC, Rumalon) used in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and comorbidities (hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Patients and methods: A 10-month multicenter (13 centers from 10 subjects of the Russian Federation) prospective study included 179 patients with Stages II–III primary tibiofemoral knee OA and comorbidity, a walking pain intensity of ≥40 mm on a visual analogue scale (VAS), and a need for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (for at least 30 days in the previous 3 months). The efficiency of treatment was evaluated from the changes in VAS scores for knee pain intensity during walking, the overall WOMAC score and scores of its individual indicators, laboratory parameters, and ultrasound data. All the patients received 2 cycles of GPC treatment with 25 injections, by following the manufacturer's instructions.Results and discussion. Even at 2 months after starting the treatment, there was a statistically significant reduction in pain during walking from 60 (50–69) to 40 (27–53.5) mm on the VAS (p< 0.05), which persisted during the follow-up period. A similar pattern was found when assessing the WOMAC index and its components. The drug demonstrated an anti-inflammatory effect: a decrease in the number of patients with synovitis from 55.7 to 39.2% (p=0.02), the level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) from 3.2 (1.3–6.2) to 2.6 (1.2–5.7) mg/l (p< 0.05). GPC was ascertained to have a safety profile.Conclusion. The data of this study confirm the good therapeutic effect and safety of GPC Rumalon in knee OA patients with hypertension and/or T2DM. The drug is shown to have a rapid analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect, as well as a positive influence on all clinical manifestations of OA.

The paper presents the results of the Osteoarthritis (OA) Expert Council held on September 8, 2019, which was attended by Russian and foreign specialists. The experts considered pharmacological treatment options for OA. The expert meeting resolution states that the treatment of patients with OA should be based on an individual assessment of the patient and on a modern evidence base of therapy efficacy.Treatment of patients with OA is based on the principles of evidence-based medicine that requires an integrated approach and the need of SYSADOAs prescription. Combined drugs with therapeutic dosages of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine in the early stages of the disease are available as basic agents. The place of paracetamol in the anesthetic therapy algorithm in OA needs to be clarified. It is also noted that when choosing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for OA treatment, it is important to take into account individual patient characteristics and the presence of comorbidities.

In recent yearsincidences of gout has increased. Despite the current diagnostic possibilities, doctors face the difficultiesin establishing the diagnosis. In 2015new criteria of diagnosis of goutwere developed by European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and American College of Rheumatology (ACR). In 2016 the EULARexpert group offered the treatment strategy of patients with gout. Main features of the strategy and new researches, revealing the most effective and safest possibilities for gout treatment were laid down in article.

Objective. To assess the efficacy and safety of amtolmetin guacil (AMG) in patients with knee joint osteoarthritis (KJOA) and associated dyspepsia in real clinical practice. Methods . 220 patients with KJOA with severe pain syndrome in KJ ≥ 40 mm in VAS and dyspepsia were included in the observation study. AMG was administered at a dose of 600 mg twice daily for 28 days. Patients had three visits: before starting treatment, on Day 14 ± 3 (visit 2), on Day 28 ± 3 (final visit) to assess the pain dynamics (according to VAS), stiffness and functional activity according to WOMAC index, general health assessment (according to VAS) and a quantitative assessment of dyspepsia (SODA index). Results. Of 219 patients, about 72.5% reported pain reduction from 65 to 27 mm at the end of the study. All indicators of three scales of the WOMAC index decreased statistically significant (р

The investigators carried out an analysis of the efficacy and safety of secukinumab (SEC) in the randomized placebocontrolled trials (RPCTs) FUTURE 1 and FUTURE 2, as well as a subanalysis of the data obtained in the Russian population of patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The FUTURE 1 and FUTURE 2 trials enrolled a total of 1003 patients with active PsA. They received SEC (n = 703) or placebo (PL) (n = 300). The use of SEC 300 or 150 mg without previous intravenous (IV) loading dose or either 150 or 75 mg with the IV loading dose led to a significant improvement in patients with PsA. The positive changes in the main clinical manifestations of PsA at 24 weeks persisted until 52 weeks of therapy. SEC was effective in both the patients who had not previously received tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors and those who had previously taken these drugs, and the result of therapy did not depend on concomitant methotrexate use.The incidence of cancer was low and comparable in the SEC and PL groups. Analysis of the combined data on the safety of the two RPCTs showed that the treatment duration-adjusted incidence of malignant neoplasms was 0.5 per 100 patient-years in the SEC groups and 0.9 in the PL groups. The safety profile of SEC in these RPCTs corresponds to that in the previous studies of the drug.The data from the pooled analysis of the Russian subpopulation of patients with PsA fully agree with the results obtained in the evaluation of all the patients included in FUTURE 1 and FUTURE 2 and confirm the most important role of IL-17А in the pathogenesis of PsA.

Objective: to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of amtolmetin guacil (AMG; Niselat®, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, India) versus previous therapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and signs of dyspepsia.Subjects and methods. The open-label observational study included 220 patients aged 30–65 years who suffered from knee OA and intense pain during NSAID intake and had symptoms of dyspepsia in the absence of contraindications to the use of AMG. Among the comorbidities that generally occurred in 68% of the patients, there was a preponderance of hypertension (42%), lower extremity varicose veins (6.4%), and diabetes mellitus (6%). Treatment efficacy was evaluated using three domains of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), by also taking into account pain intensity and general health assessment on the visual analogue scale. A Severity of Dyspepsia Assessment (SODA) scale was used to rate dyspepsia.Results and discussion. AMG had a marked analgesic effect confirmed by 40% or more pain reduction that occurred in 72.5% of the patients. The high analgesic effect of AMG was confirmed by a statistically significant (p Conclusion. The findings suggest that AMG offers good prospects for knee OA treatment.

The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) treatment algorithm for the management of knee osteoarthritis (OA), published in December 2014, provides practical guidance for the prioritization of interventions. This current paper represents an assessment and endorsement of the algorithm by Russian experts in OA for use in Russian clinical practice, with the aim of providing easy-to-follow advice on how to establish a treatment flow in patients with knee OA, in support of the clinicians’ individualized assessment of the patient. Medications recommended by the ESCEO algorithm are available in Russia. In step 1, background maintenance therapy with symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOA) is advised, for which high-quality evidence is provided only for the formulations of patented crystalline glucosamine sulphate (pCGS) (Rottapharm/Meda) and prescription chondroitin sulfate. Paracetamol may be added for rescue analgesia only, due to limited efficacy and increasing safety signals. Topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may provide additional symptomatic treatment with the same degree of efficacy as oral NSAIDs but without the systemic safety concerns. To be effective, topical NSAIDs must have high bioavailability, and among NSAIDs molecules like etofenamate have high absorption and bioavailability alongside evidence for accumulation in synovial tissues. Oral NSAIDs maintain a central role in step 2 advanced management of persistent symptoms. However, oral NSAIDs are highly heterogeneous in terms of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular safety profile, and patient stratification with careful treatment selection is advocated to maximize the risk: benefit ratio. Intra-articular hyaluronic acid as a next step provides sustained clinical benefit with effects lasting up to 6 months after a short-course of weekly injections. As a last step before surgery, the slow titration of sustained-release tramadol, a weak opioid, affords sustained analgesia with improved tolerability.

The paper is devoted to the urgent problem of pain syndromes of multimodal character developed in different pathologies. The diagnosis and treatment of pain is frequently complicated by nociceptive, neuropathic and dysfunctional components. Special attention is drawn to the dysfunctional component and its relation to depression. In this context, the authors consider psychological aspects of pain syndrome formation and methods of treatment using pharmacological medications and pain-coping strategies as well. Different coping strategies of active and passive pain-coping styles depending on sex, personality features, nosologic forms are presented. The necessity of using the active coping-strategies to relieve pain of different genesis is highlighted.Статья посвящена актуальной проблеме болевых синдромов, которые носят мультимодальный характер и возникают при различной патологии. Наличие ноцицептивного, нейропатического и дисфункционального компонентов зачастую создает трудности при диагностике и лечении боли. Особое внимание уделяется дисфункциональному компоненту боли и его связи с депрессией. В этом контексте рассмотрены психологические аспекты формирования болевых синдромов и методы их лечения с точки зрения не только медикаментозных средств, но и с помощью копинг-cтратегий преодоления боли. Представлены различные модели копинг-стратегий как активного так и пассивного стиля совладания с болью в зависимости от пола пациентов, характерологических особенностей личности, нозологических форм. Подчеркивается необходимость использования активных копинг-стратегий при купировании болевых синдромов различного генеза.

Objective: to analyze the efficacy of rituximab (RTM) in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) resistant to conventional therapy. Subjects and methods. The trial enrolled 10 male patients with the reliable and valid diagnosis of AS who received therapy with RTM used in cases of steadily high AS activity, resistance to standard therapy, and contraindications to the use of tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors. The number of patients meeting the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria for 20% improvements 24 weeks after treatment initiation was the main indicator of therapeutic effectiveness. Results. After 24-week therapy, 7 and 4 of the 10 patients showed 20 and 40% improvements, respectively; and 2 patients had partial remission according to the ASAS criteria. During the treatment, the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) significantly decreased (p = 0.046), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) remained substantially unchanged. Treatment response did not depend on the development of an early (at 2 weeks) complete depletion of CD20 lymphocytes. No significant effect could be achieved in patients with high baseline BASDAI and BASFI scores. Conclusion. RTM used patients with AS can ensure clinical improvement and even remission in a number of cases; however, it is unpromising in cases of high disease activity and severe functional failure.