Francis Berenbaum

• MD, PhD
• Professor (Full) at Sorbonne University

Objective Cartilage surface mapping is a technique that can visualize 3D cartilage thickness variation throughout a joint without a need for arbitrary regional definitions. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to utilize this technique to evaluate the cartilage thickness distribution in knee osteoarthritis patients and to analyze to what...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joint disease that has long been considered a simple wear-and-tear condition. Over the past decade, research has revealed that various inflammatory features of OA, such as low-grade peripheral inflammation and synovitis, contribute substantially to the pathophysiology of the disease. Technological advances in the pa...

The systemic associations with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) are incompletely understood. This study explores aortic disease, musculoskeletal and organ findings in patients with KOA in relation to their symptoms or radiographic abnormalities. Full body computed tomography (CT) scans of 255 IMI-APPROACH participants were investigated using an automated...

This study investigates the anti‐inflammatory properties of liraglutide, a glucagon‐like peptide 1 receptor agonists, in equine in vitro models and in an in vivo acute synovitis model in Shetland ponies. The anti‐inflammatory effect of liraglutide was assessed by measuring concentrations of inflammatory biomarker C‐C Motif Chemokine Ligand 2 (CCL2)...

Background The role of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in osteoarthritis (OA) pain, particularly in non-weight-bearing joints like the hand (HOA), remains debated. This study assessed whether MetS is linked to increased hand pain in patients with HOA. Methods Using the DIGICOD cohort, 352 HOA patients (85 % women, mean age 66.4 ± 7.4 years) were analyze...

Background People with hand osteoarthritis (OA) often have poor access to recommended treatments. To enhance care quality, quality indicators (QIs) based on clinical recommendations are essential. Current QI sets, like the Osteoarthritis Quality Indicator Questionnaire (OA-QI v.2), primarily address hip- and knee OA, and not hand OA. Objectives To...

Objective. To enable person-centered care, it is crucial to consider beliefs, needs, and priorities of individuals with osteoarthritis (OA). Nevertheless, concepts that they consider important are not fully recapitulated in assessment and care. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to clarify how individuals with OA conceive, experience, and...

Importance: This is the first meta-analysis to investigate the risk of severe outcomes for individuals with immunocompromising/immunosuppressive (IC/IS) conditions specifically in the Omicron era. Objective: To assess the risk of mortality and hospitalization from COVID-19 in people with IC/IS conditions compared with people without IC/IS condition...

Objective Neuroimaging investigations are critical to provide a more direct assessment of brain disturbances associated with osteoarthritis (OA)-related pain, and to better understand its pathophysiology to develop new treatment strategies. This viewpoint aims to summarize the importance of the brain in OA pain. Method A European working group on...

Objective To assess whether change of semiquantitatively magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and inflammatory markers is associated with change in quantitatively-assessed cartilage loss in the femorotibial joint (FTJ) in knees with radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) over 24 months. Design Participants were included fr...

Objectives: To compare the humoral response after a SARS-CoV-2 infection in an inflammatory rheumatic disease population with a healthy control population in a case-control study. Methods: Cases: between March and September 2021, all consecutive unvaccinated patients followed for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA) or psoriatic ar...

Pain is the hallmark symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) and its biological drivers remain poorly understood. While the role of innate immunity in OA has been extensively studied, the involvement of adaptive immunity, in particular regulatory T cells (Tregs), is not well understood. Using a comprehensive multi-omic approach on the peripheral blood from...

Objectives To assess the efficacy of a single intradiscal injection of allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) versus a sham placebo in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP). Methods Participants were randomised in a prospective, double-blind, controlled study to receive either sham injection or intradiscal injection of 20 m...

Objective A fully automated laminar cartilage composition (MRI-based T2) analysis method was technically and clinically validated by comparing radiographically normal knees with (CL-JSN) and without contra-lateral joint space narrowing or other signs of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA, CL-noROA). Materials and methods 2D U-Nets were trained from m...

Objective: This study delves into the intriguing connection between knee osteoarthritis and diabetes in Malaysia. Specifically, the exacerbation of knee osteoarthritis in the presence of diabetes in terms of symptoms, physical performance, physical activity, psychological status, social participation, and quality of life was discussed. Design: This...

Background Resveratrol is a natural compound found in red wine. It has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties in preclinical models. We compared the effect of oral resveratrol in a new patented formulation to oral placebo for individuals with painful knee osteoarthritis. Methods and findings ARTHROL was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-contr...

Obesity has a pivotal and multifaceted role in pain associated with osteoarthritis (OA), extending beyond the mechanistic influence of BMI. It exerts its effects both directly and indirectly through various modifiable risk factors associated with OA-related pain. Adipose tissue dysfunction is highly involved in OA-related pain through local and sys...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a significant global burden, affecting more than half a billion people across the world. It ischaracterized by degeneration and loss of articular cartilage, synovial inflammation, and subchondral bonesclerosis, leading to pain and functional impairment. After age, obesity is a major modifiable risk factor for OA,and it has re...

Background Inception cohorts aim to describe chronic diseases from diagnosis and over years of follow-up. Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) diagnosis might be challenging during the first years of the disease. Thus, identifying the features that will be associated with a confirmed diagnosis over time is key. Objectives To assess the frequency and th...

Chondrocyte hypertrophic differentiation is a main event leading to articular cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis. It is associated with matrix remodeling and mineralization, the dynamics of which is not well characterized during chondrocyte hypertrophic differentiation in articular cartilage. Based on an in vitro model of progressive different...

Background The incidence of hand osteoarthritis (OA) increases in perimenopausal women (i.e., around the age of 50), and the burden is significantly higher in women than in men, suggesting a role for estrogens in the pathogenesis of hand OA. To date, some studies suggest that estrogens could have a protective role in knee or hip OA [1], and data on...

Background Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent rheumatic disease, yet access to recommended treatments is often poor for those affected. To enhance care quality, sets of quality indicators (QIs) grounded in current treatment guidelines are crucial. They serve as tools to guide clinical practice and evaluate care quality. While validated QI sets...

Background Patients with erosive hand osteoarthritis (EHOA) have more pain, functional disability, and synovitis than those with non-erosive HOA making them a difficult-to-treat OA population. The vagus nerve has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taV...

Objectives The objective of this study is to develop classification criteria for overall hand osteoarthritis (OA), interphalangeal OA and thumb base OA based on self-reported data and radiographic features. Methods The classification criteria sets were developed in three phases. In phase 1, we identified criteria that discriminated hand OA from co...

Objective To investigate whether structural hand OA or its progression is associated with structural knee OA progression after two years in a population with symptomatic knee OA. Methods We used baseline and two-year follow-up data from the IMI-APPROACH cohort. Symptomatic hand and knee OA were defined using ACR criteria. Radiographs of hands and...

Background To illustrate how (standardised) effect sizes (ES) vary based on calculation method and to provide considerations for improved reporting. Methods Data from three trials of tanezumab in subjects with osteoarthritis were analyzed. ES of tanezumab versus comparator for WOMAC Pain (outcome) was defined as least squares difference between me...

Osteoarthritis (OA) commonly affects the knee and hip joints and accounts for 19.3% of disability-adjusted life years and years lived with disability worldwide (Refs 1, 2). Early management is important in order to avoid disability uphold quality of life (Ref. 3). However, a lack of awareness of subclinical and early symptomatic stages of OA often...

Objective To determine the association between joint structure and gait in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods IMI-APPROACH recruited 297 clinical knee OA patients. Gait data was collected (GaitSmart®) and OA-related joint measures determined from knee radiographs (KIDA) and MRIs (qMRI/MOAKS). Patients were divided into those with/with...

Background: We aimed to evaluate the value of the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score as a prognostic factor in RA in the prospective ESPOIR cohort. Methods: We included patients from the ESPOIR cohort with a diagnosis of RA according to ACR/EULAR criteria. The formula for the FIB-4 score is as follows: [age (years) × aspartate transaminase level (U/L)]/[plat...

Objectives Pain as central symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) needs to be addressed as part of successful treatment. The assessment of pain as feature of disease or outcome in clinical practice and drug development remains a challenge due to its multidimensionality and the plethora of confounders. This article aims at providing insights into our unders...

Objective We assess the clinical and structural impact at two years of progressively spacing tocilizumab (TCZ) or abatacept (ABA) injections versus maintenance at full dose in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in sustained remission. Methods This multicenter open‐label noninferiority (NI) randomized clinical trial included patients with establish...

Objectives There is no evidence linking specific osteoarthritis (OA) types, such as erosive hand OA (EHOA), with distant generalised changes in muscle composition (sarcopenia), which can potentially be modified. This study pioneers the exploration of the association between EHOA and sarcopenia, both of which are predominantly observed in the older...

Objectives Based on genetic associations, McGonagle and McDermott suggested a classification of autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases as a continuum ranging from purely autoimmune to purely autoinflammatory diseases and comprising diseases with both components. We used deep immunophenotyping to identify immune cell populations and molecular targ...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widespread joint condition affecting millions globally, presenting a growing socioeconomic burden thus making the development of more effective therapeutic strategies crucial. This review emphasizes recent advancements in lipid-based drug delivery systems (DDSs) for intra-articular administration of OA therapeutics, encompa...

Inflammatory low back pain with radiculopathy is suggestive of cancer, infection or inflammatory diseases. We report a unique case of a 42-year-old patient with an acute inflammatory low back pain with bilateral radiculopathy associated with weight loss and abdominal pain, revealing the disintegration of a lead bullet along the epidural space and t...

Objectives: To efficiently assess the disease-modifying potential of new osteoarthritis treatments, clinical trials need progression-enriched patient populations. To assess whether the application of machine learning results in patient selection enrichment, we developed a machine learning recruitment strategy targeting progressive patients and val...

Background Radiographically normal knees with contralateral (CL) radiographic joint space narrowing (JSN) are at elevated risk of incident radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA). We previously observed increased superficial femorotibial cartilage layer transverse relaxation time (T2) on magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 39 KLG0 knees (0=normal) with ad...

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) frequently affects multiple joints including the knees and hands. Currently, it is unknown which patients with knee OA have the highest risk to progress, and how these patients can be identified. Objectives To investigate the association of radiographic hand OA and its progression with radiographic knee OA progressio...

Background The common belief is to consider hand osteoarthritis (HOA) as a less severe disease with a better functional prognosis and a lower global burden than rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, this paradigm may no longer be true considering the striking efficacy of targeted therapies in RA compared to the weak efficacy of therapies in the most...

Background This study uses gait measurements and imaging techniques in knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients to investigate the association between gait patterns and joint structure. Objectives To analyze whether 1) gait patterns can be explained by joint structure and 2) longitudinal gait alterations can be predicted by joint structure in people with...

Background Erosive HOA (EHOA), defined by an erosive radiographic joint and inflammatory HOA (IHOA) defined by the presence of clinical synovitis are frequent in HOA. The association with specific risk factors and a more severe disease, remains still debated. Objectives To identify demographic, disease-related and clinical factors as risk factors...

Background IL-17A inhibitors (IL-17i) and TNF-inhibitors (TNFi) are currently the only biologic drugs available as first line treatment in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). While several studies have provided mechanistic insights into TNFi action, much less is known how IL-17i affect immune responses in patients. Objectives We have compared the eff...

Background While many patients with joint disease report pain changes according to meteorological factors (1), this common belief has not been clearly demonstrated and never been documented in hand osteoarthritis (HOA). Objectives We aimed to investigate the cross-sectional association between meteorological factors that are ambient temperature an...

Background While association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) (combining central obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia and/or hypertension) and the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) disease risk remains controversial at the structural level, MetS could be involved in OA-related pain. To analyze such an association, investigating hand OA is more relevant than...