Current Trends and Advances in Spondyloarthritis

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new Special Issue entitled “Current Trends and Advances in Spondyloarthritis” (JPM).

Spondyloarthritides (SpA) represent a heterogeneous group of chronic inflammatory diseases, characterized by axial, enthesis and peripheral involvement that may occur together with extra-articular manifestations, such as psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, uveitis, and systemic syndromes (e.g., cardiovascular and lung involvement, osteoporosis, psychiatric and sleep disorders).

In recent years, the growing knowledge of pathophysiology, genetic predisposition, classification criteria, imaging and treatment has profoundly increased the quality of the research on SpA, even if the complexity and variety of clinical manifestations of the disease still cause diagnostic and therapeutic delay.

The research approach based on new classification criteria, even ameliorated, still risks to decontextualize and undersize possible sexes, racial and clinical bias, as consequence of a complex skein of factors.

Firstly, even if substantial evidence exists that familiarity, HLA*B27 and *C06 might have a role in genetic predisposition in SpA patients, the underlying molecular basis of this susceptibility and the role of other haplotypes and gene polymorphisms are still under debate.

Furthermore, the paucity of new effective serum biomarkers, the presence of subclinical underlying disease shown by MRI and ultrasound, and the comorbidity of fibromyalgia and depressive mood often confound the definitive choice for diagnosis, activity measure, and treatments.

Thus, the increased awareness of the early stage of the disease and knowledge of clinical progression in late stages might contribute to revolutionize the treat-to-target strategy with more tailored and multifactorial treatments and the achievement of a drug-free remission in SpA patients.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a broad update on the pathogenetic, diagnostic and clinical aspects of SpA that might ameliorate the knowledge from bench to bedside of some still enigmatic aspects of disease.

We are soliciting original articles, reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as well as case series related to future challenges in the field of SpA.

Dr. Francesca Bandinelli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• spondyloarthritis
• ultrasound
• MRI
• HLA
• gene
• biomarkers
• classification