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Objectives: Anti-MDA5 autoantibodies are strongly associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and rapidly progressive ILD (RP-ILD) in Asian patients with dermatomyositis (DM) or amyopathic DM (ADM). However, this association has not yet been established in Brazilian patients with anti-MDA5(+) DM/ADM. This study aimed to investigate the phenotypic differences between Brazilian and Japanese patients with anti-MDA5(+) DM/ADM, with a particular focus on ILD., Methods: This was an international, tricentric, retrospective cohort study conducted in one Brazilian and two Japanese tertiary centres. Patients diagnosed with anti-MDA5(+) DM/ADM at the three centres were enrolled. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were collected using a pre-standardised protocol and compared between Brazilian and Japanese patients., Results: Thirty-four Brazilian and 65 Japanese patients were analysed. Brazilian patients were younger at the time of diagnosis than Japanese patients. The prevalence of muscle weakness, myalgia, dysphagia, heliotrope rash, V-sign, calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, and digital ulcers was higher in Brazilian patients, whereas mechanic's hands were more prevalent in Japanese patients. The prevalence of ILD was significantly lower in Brazilian patients than in Japanese patients (50.0% vs. 98.5%, P<0.001). RP-ILD was observed in 34 (52.3%) Japanese patients and in only one (3.3%) Brazilian patient (P<0.001). Outcomes including overall survival and the frequency of relapses and complications, such as severe infection and malignancy, were comparable between the two populations., Conclusions: Brazilian patients with anti-MDA5(+) DM/ADM had a higher prevalence of skin and muscle involvement, whereas the prevalence of ILD and RP-ILD was significantly lower than in Japanese patients.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for pain, fatigue, physical function, and health-related quality of life in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM)., Methods: This randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover clinical trial enrolled IIM patients with fatigue and pain who received tDCS (20 min, 2 mA) or sham stimulation for 10 daily sessions. Electrodes were placed according to the 10/20 EEG system. Both the groups underwent aerobic exercise training during the intervention period. The patients were evaluated for disease perception, pain, and fatigue using uni-multidimensional questionnaires and physical tests in the periods before and after the first and second interventions and after 12 weeks of follow-up., Results: After the tDCS intervention, a reduction in the general score of multidimensional pain of 32.0 (1.5-38.0) vs. 0.0 (0.0-13.4) with effect size (ES) of -0.78 was noted, and after sham intervention, a reduction of 26.0 (0.0-37.0) vs . 5.0 (0.0-19.2) with ES of -0.54 ( P = 0.047) was also noted. Similar results were evidenced with fatigue (22.5 (15.4-33.2) vs. 5.5 (0.0-14.6) with ES of -0.82) and sham intervention (21.0 (15.8-29.5) vs. 4.0 (4.0-17.5) with ES of -0.80 ( P = 0.012)). There were no differences in the domains of the fatigue and pain questionnaires. Adherence was observed in 88.8% of the patients without adverse events., Conclusion: The association of tDCS with aerobic training promoted additional effects in relation to the group subjected to placebo stimulation on general pain and fatigue scores, as well as on pain intensity, without changes in the subdomains of the pain and fatigue questionnaire. This trial is registered with NCT04678635., Competing Interests: All authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Rafael Giovani Missé et al.)

Systemic autoimmune myopathies (SAMs) are rare diseases that lead to muscle inflammation and may be associated with a variety of systemic manifestations. Although there is great heterogeneity in the spectrum of extra-muscular involvement in SAMs, interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most frequent lung manifestation. SAM-related ILD (SAM-ILD) presents significant variations according to geographic location and temporal trends and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Several myositis autoantibodies have been discovered over the last decades, including antibodies targeting aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes, which are associated with a variable risk of developing ILD and a myriad of other clinical features. In this review, the most relevant topics regarding clinical manifestations, risk factors, diagnostic tests, autoantibodies, treatment, and prognosis of SAM-ILD are highlighted. We searched PubMed for relevant articles published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish from January 2002 to September 2022. The most common SAM-ILD patterns are nonspecific interstitial pneumonia and organizing pneumonia. The combination of clinical, functional, laboratory, and tomographic features is usually sufficient for diagnostic confirmation, without the need for additional invasive methods. Glucocorticoids remain the first-line treatment for SAM-ILD, although other traditional immunosuppressants, such as azathioprine, mycophenolate, and cyclophosphamide have demonstrated some efficacy and, therefore, have an important role as steroid-sparing agents.

Borges et al. have recently reported the first case of a dermatomyositis onset in close association with established coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Similarly, we report a patient who, on the contrary, had COVID-19 following early established dermatomyositis. We report prospectively the outcome of her disease.