Principal Investigator

José Federico Díaz González, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine; Department of Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Psychiatry, ULL – Head of the Rheumatology Service, HUC

Collaborating doctors

• Javier Rafael Castro Hernández, PhD (Assistant Professor; Department of Physical Medicine and Pharmacology, ULL – until 05/2023)

Clinical medical collaborators

• Judith Mª López Fernández, MD, PhD (Attending Physician; Endocrinology Department, HUC)
• Iván Ferraz Amaro, MD, PhD (Attending Physician; Rheumatology Service, HUC)

PhD students and researchers in training

• Sergio Iván Santos Concepción (Doctoral Program in Health Sciences ULL, FIISC, Spanish Society of Rheumatology)
• Noé Adal Brito García (Doctoral Program in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Development and Quality of Life, ULL)
• Virginia Domínguez Pimentel (Doctoral Program in Health Sciences, ULL)
• Ana Belén Llanos Martín (Doctoral Program in Health Sciences ULL, thesis defended 19/05/2023)

Lines of research

• Determining the role of oxygen free radicals in regulating the early stages of the inflammatory response
• Study of the in vivo effect of substances with anti-L-selectin activity on neutrophil migration
• Study of the modulatory role of alpha 2 adrenergic receptors in the acute inflammatory response
• The involvement of cytokines and chemokines in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthropathy, and Sjögren's syndrome
• Study of the capacity of pancreatic tissue in the differentiation of adult stem cells into pancreatic endocrine cells
• Modulation of the acute and chronic inflammatory response of LXR receptors
• Physical activity in patients with chronic joint diseases. Relationship between clinical activity and movement capacity. Analysis of physical activity in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

• Effect of cytokines and the inflammatory response on insulin resistance, cholesterol flux, and PCSK9
• Abdominal adiposity and body composition in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Funded projects

• Regulation of fat inflammation in human obesity. Role of chemokine system and alpha2-adrenergic receptors in macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue (PI21/00406). IP: Federico Díaz. Carlos III Health Institute (01/2022 – 12/2024, €120,000)

Publications 2023

• Montero-Pastor N, Sánchez-Costa JT, Guerra-Rodríguez M, Sánchez-Alonso F, Moriano C, Loricera J, Díaz-González F. Development of a web tool to calculate the cumulative dose of glucocorticoids. Clinical Rheumatology. 2023;19(1):1-5. DOI: 10.1016/J.REUMA.2022.04.004
• Michelsen B, Østergaard M, Nissen MJ, Ciurea A, Möller B, Ørnbjerg LM, et al. (Díaz-González F), Bustabad-Reyes S. Differences and similarities between the EULAR/ASAS-EULAR and national recommendations for treatment of patients with psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis across Europe. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. 2023 Oct;33:100706. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100706
• Álvaro-Gracia JM, Sanchez-Piedra C, Culqui D, Rosello R, Garcia-Dorta A, Campos C, Manrique-Arija S, Ruiz-Montesinos D, Ros-Vilamajo I, Rodríguez-Lozano C, Freire-González M, Caliz R, Bohorquez C, Mateo Soria L, Busquets N, Castrejon I, Sánchez-Alonso F, González-Dávila E, Diaz-Gonzalez F. Effects of COVID-19 vaccination on disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis on targeted therapy in the COVIDSER study. RMD open. 2023 Mar;9(1):e002936. DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002936
• Torre Alonso JC, Almodóvar González R, Montilla Morales C, Sanz Sanz J, Díaz González F, Pascual Alfonso E, Gratacós J. Expert recommendations for the use of apremilast in psoriatic arthritis. Clinical Rheumatology. 2023;19(1):34-44. DOI: 10.1016/J.REUMA.2022.01.002
• Pombo-Suárez M, Seoane-Mato D, Díaz-González F, Sánchez-Alonso F, Sánchez-Jareño M, Cea-Calvo L, Castrejón I. Four-year retention rate of golimumab administered after discontinuation of non-TNF inhibitors in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Advances in Rheumatology. 2023 Jun 7;63(1):25. DOI: 10.1186/s42358-023-00296-1
• García-González M, Gómez-Bernal F, Quevedo-Abeledo JC, Fernández-Cladera Y, González-Rivero AF, de Vera-González A, de la Rua-Figueroa I, López-Mejias R, Díaz-González F, González-Gay MÁ, Ferraz-Amaro I. Full characterization of the three pathways of the complement system in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Frontiers in Immunology. 2023 Apr 21:14:1167055. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1167055
• García-González M, Gómez-Bernal F, Quevedo-Abeledo JC, Fernández-Cladera Y, González-Rivero AF, López-Mejías R, Díaz-González F, González-Gay MÁ, Ferraz-Amaro I. HDL Cholesterol Efflux and the Complement System Are Linked in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2023;12(16). DOI: 10.3390/jcm12165405
• Pombo-Suárez M, Seoane-Mato D, Díaz-González F, Cea-Calvo L, Sánchez-Alonso F, Sánchez-Jareño M, Jovani V, García-Magallón B, Martínez-González O, Campos-Fernández C, Manero J, Díaz-Torne C, Bohórquez C, Ros-Vilamajó I, Pérez-Vera Y, Castrejón I. Long-term retention of golimumab treatment in clinical practice in a large cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Musculoskeletal Care. 2023 Mar;21(1):189-197. DOI: 10.1002/msc.1684
• Díaz-González F, Hernández-Hernández MV. Rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical Medicine. 2023 Dec 22;161(12):533-542. DOI: 10.1016/j.medcli.2023.07.014
• Ferraz-Amaro I, Santos-Concepción S, Castro J, Hernández-Hernández MV, Tejera-Segura B, Luna C, Delgado-Frías E, Díaz-González F. Tocilizumab-related hypertriglyceridemia is independent of key molecules regulating lipid metabolism. European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2023 Sep;53(9):e14006. DOI: 10.1111/eci.14006

Other representative publications from recent years

• Domínguez-Luis MJ, Armas-González E, Herrera-García A, Arce-Franco M, M Fair, Vicente-Manzanares M, Martínez-Ruiz A, Sánchez-Madrid F, Díaz-González F. L-selectin expression is regulated by CXCL8-induced reactive oxygen species produced during human neutrophil rolling. Eur J Immunol. 2019 Mar;49(3):386-397. DOI: 10.1002/eji.201847710
• Álvaro-Gracia JM, Jover JA, García-Vicuña R, Carreño L, Alonso A, Marsal S, Blanco F, Martínez-Taboada VM, Taylor P, Martín-Martín C, DelaRosa O, Tagarro I, Díaz-González F. Intravenous administration of expanded allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in refractory rheumatoid arthritis (Cx611): results of a multicenter, dose escalation, randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled phase Ib/IIa clinical trial. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Jan;76(1):196-202. DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-208918
• Cutolo M, Myerson GE, Fleischmann RM, Liote F, Díaz-González F, Van den Bosch F, Mazo-Ortega H, Feist E, Shan K, Hu C, Stevens RM, Poder A. A phase III, randomized, controlled trial of Apremilast in patients with psoriatic arthritis: results of the PALACE 2 trial. J Rheumatol. 2016 Sep;43(9):1724-34. DOI: 10.3899/jrheum.151376