The efficacy of moxibustion and acupuncture therapy for ankylosing spondylitis: A protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysis

Background:Ankylosing spondylitis is a complex and progressive autoimmune inflammatory disease with a worldwide prevalence ranging up to 0.9%. Several systematic reviews and meta-analyses of traditional Chinese medicine alternative therapies, such as acupuncture or moxibustion, have demonstrated the effectiveness of moxibustion and acupuncture in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. However, there is no relevant literature to comprehensively evaluate the evidence. The purpose of this overview is to synthesize and evaluate the reliability of evidence generated in the systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis of moxibustion and acupuncture as a primary or complementary therapy for patients with ankylosing spondylitis.Methods:PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese VIP Information, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were searched for systematic reviews and meta-analysis that review the efficacy of acupuncture or moxibustion as the primary treatment for patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis. The literature published before August 2020 will be selected. Additionally, the relevant SRs and meta-analyses that unpublished or ongoing will be searched in PROSPERO and INPLASY. The methodological guidelines for overviews will be used to review and extract data by 2 reviewers, and their will do it independently. Methodology quality will be analyzed by the assessment of multiple systematic reviews-2and the risk of bias by POBIS. For the included studies, we will adopt the following results as primary evaluation indicators: effective rate, visual analogue scale and bath AS disease activity index. Reviewers will assess the certainty of evidence by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation.Results:The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.Conclusion:This overview will provide comprehensive evidence of moxibustion and acupuncture for patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis.     

Efficacy of warming needle moxibustion in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: A protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Background:Ankylosing spondylitis is a recurrent autoimmune disease, which has a high disability rate and seriously affects patients’ daily life. Conventional treatment cannot effectively solve the clinical problems of patients, and long-term medication is accompanied by adverse reactions. The evidence shows that warming needle moxibustion has advantages in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis, but there is still a lack of clinical studies on warm acupuncture alone and long-term follow-up.Methods:This is a prospective randomized controlled trial to study the efficacy and safety of needle warming through moxibustion in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. It was approved by the Ethics Committee of Clinical Research of our hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to an observation group or a control group. The patients were followed up for 6 months after 30 days of treatment. Observation indicators include; activity index, functional ability, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index, inflammatory indicators, adverse reactions, and so on. Finally, SPASS 22.0 software is used for statistical analysis of the data.Discussion:This study will evaluate the clinical efficacy of warming needle moxibustion in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. The results of this study will provide a reference basis for the clinical use of warm needle moxibustion in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis.Trial registration:OSF Registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/GWPX3     

Is Pilates an effective rehabilitation tool? A systematic review

Background

Pilates is a system of exercise focusing upon controlled movement, stretching and breathing. Pilates is popular today not only for physical fitness but also for rehabilitation programs. This paper is a review of the literature on the effectiveness of Pilates as a rehabilitation tool in a wide range of conditions in an adult population.

Biologics for treating axial spondyloarthritis

Introduction: Spondyloarthritis (SpA) encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases sharing genetic, immunological, clinical and imaging features. Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) refers to a subgroup characterised predominately by inflammation of the axial skeleton with subsequent symptoms of chronic (often inflammatory) back pain and sacroiliitis. There is a strong association with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I allele human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27. In the last decade, there has been significant progress in earlier detection of the disease and the molecular mechanisms involved in its pathogenesis. The subsequent introduction of anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) has revolutionised the treatment of patients with axSpA.

Areas covered: In this article, we review the current biologic therapies for axSpA, the emergence of biosimilars, predictors of response, primary and secondary failure and new biologics on the horizon.

Expert opinion: There have been significant advances in the treatment of axSpA. Beyond the clear efficacy of anti-TNF inhibition, IL-17 offers an alternative therapeutic target and there is promise from inhibition of the IL-17/IL-23 pathway and small molecules, such as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. Biosimilars have offered greater affordability and choice within this increasingly growing field of therapeutics.     

强直性脊柱炎患者细胞毒性T淋巴细胞变化

目的 探讨细胞毒性T淋巴细胞(T-lymphocytes,Tc)在强直性脊柱炎(ankylosing spondylitis,AS)患者中的表达变化.方法 筛选42例AS患者作为研究对象(病例组),20例同时期健康查体者作为对照(对照组).检测2组血小板计数、红细胞沉降率(erythrocyte sedimentation rate,ESR)、C反应蛋白(C-neactveprotein,CRP)水平并记录强直性脊柱炎病情活动指数调查表(bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index,BASDAI)评分.应用流式细胞仪检测外周血中淋巴细胞表型(CD3+CD8+)、胞浆内细胞因子γ干扰素、白细胞介素4的表达.采用t检验分析两组间外周血中Tc、Tc1、Tc2、Tc1/Tc2比值的差异;相关分析采用Pearson检验.结果 病例组与对照组外周血中Tc分别为(21.22±4.27)％ vs (14.23±4.15)％ (t=6.177,P＜0.01),Tc1分别为(0.35±0.08)％vs(1.45±0.27)％(t=24.640,P＜0.01),Tc2分别为(0.53±0.12)％vs(0.41±0.12)％(t=3.608,P＜0.01),Tc1/Tc2比值分别为0.72±0.29vs3.93±1.63(t=6.431,P＜0.01).相关分析显示AS患者外周血中Tc、Tc1、Tc2、Tc1/Tc2比值与血小板计数、ESR、CRP、BASDAI均无相关性.结论 AS患者外周血中Tc1细胞减少,Tc2细胞增多,的确存在Tc1/Tc2细胞的失衡,而且是Tc2细胞占优势.     

Effectiveness of Exercise Programs in Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective

To assess the effectiveness of exercise programs on disease activity and function in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) by a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

外周肌腱附着点超声检查在强直性脊柱炎诊断中的价值

目的 探讨肌腱附着点超声检查诊断强直性脊柱炎(AS)的价值.方法 20例AS患者,病程1-8(4.3±3.1)年.采用高频线阵探头(频率7-12 MHz)对6对肌腱附着点进行超声检查.临床检查时,患者有肌腱附着点部位自主疼痛、肿胀或压痛之一则定义为肌腱附着点炎.结果 AS患者肌腱附着点炎的超声诊断率高于临床检查(51.3％ vs.19.6％) (P＜0.05).AS患者肌腱附着点病变在超声上主要表现为肌腱插入骨皮质部位出现钙化(33.3％)、肌腱水肿(29.2％)、血流灌注(25.8％)、肌腱增厚(22.1％)、骨皮质不规则(12.9％)、骨侵蚀(9.6％)和滑囊炎(7.1％).47处临床检查肌腱附着点阳性病变中,44.7％超声检查未发现异常;而193处临床阴性附着点中,49.2％超声提示存在附着点病变.结论 超声检查可发现肌腱附着点结构和炎性病变,可作为AS患者临床检查的补充手段.     

Higher frequency of peripheral blood follicular regulatory T cells in patients with new onset ankylosing spondylitis

Follicular helper T (TFH) cells and B cells are linked to the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Follicular regulatory T (TFR) cells suppress TFH cell and germinal center B cell numbers in vivo. The role of TFR cells in AS is unknown. The frequency of peripheral blood inducible FOXP3+CXCR5+CD4+TFR cells and CXCR5+CD4+TFH cells were taken from 20 onset AS patients and 10 healthy controls, and were examined by flow cytometry, their disease activity were measured by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index. The concentrations of serum interleukin (IL)‐21, immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin M and C‐reactive protein were examined, and the values of erythrocyte sedimentation rate were measured. The frequency of peripheral blood FOXP3+CXCR5+CD4+TFR cells, CXCR5+CD4+TFH cells, the ratio of FOXP3+CXCR5+CD4+TFR/CXCR5+CD4+TFH cells and the concentration of serum IL‐21 in the AS patients were significantly higher than those in the healthy controls (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0027, P < 0.0001, P = 0.0039, respectively). The frequency of FOXP3+CXCR5+CD4+TFR cells and the ratio of FOXP3+CXCR5+CD4+TFR/CXCR5+CD4+TFH cells still significantly rose in those patients after standard treatment (P = 0.0006, P < 0.0001), the concentration of serum IL‐21 decreased after treatment (P = 0.0049), accompanied by significantly minimized disease activities. Furthermore, the TFR cells were negatively correlated with serum immunoglobulin A in those patients before treatment (r = ?0.582, P = 0.0071), and the frequency of TFR cells was negatively correlated with that of TFH cells and the concentration of serum IL‐21 after treatment (r = ?0.550, P = 0.046; r = ?0.581, P = 0.0371). TFR cells might participate in the pathogenesis of AS, and might be responsible for controlling the autoantibodies, the frequency and function of TFH cells to inhibit the development of AS.