Regulatory T cells in psoriatic arthritis: an IL-17A-producing, Foxp3CD161 + RORγt + ICOS + phenotype, that associates with the presence of ADAMTSL5 autoantibodies.

In psoriatic arthritis (PsA), predisposing class I HLA alleles, the presence of synovial clonally proliferated CD8 + T cells and autoantibodies all point towards the loss of immune tolerance. However, the key mechanisms that lead to immune dysregulation are not fully understood. In other types of inflammatory arthritis, T regulatory cell (Treg) dysfunction and plasticity at sites of inflammation were suggested to negatively affect peripheral tolerance.

Multiomics and Machine Learning Accurately Predict Clinical Response to Adalimumab and Etanercept Therapy in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To predict response to anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) prior to treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to comprehensively understand the mechanism of how different RA patients respond differently to anti-TNF treatment.

Methods: Gene expression and/or DNA methylation profiling on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), monocytes, and CD4+ T cells obtained from 80 RA patients before they began either adalimumab (ADA) or etanercept (ETN) therapy was studied. After 6 months, treatment response was evaluated according to the European League Against Rheumatism criteria for disease response.

Dysregulated miRNome of plasmacytoid dendritic cells from patients with Sjögren's syndrome is associated with processes at the centre of their function.

Objective: A considerable body of evidence supports a role for type-I IFN in the pathogenesis of primary SS (pSS). As plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are a major source of type-I IFN, we investigated their molecular regulation by measuring expression of a large set of miRNAs.

Methods: pDCs were isolated from peripheral blood of pSS patients (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 16) divided into two independent cohorts (discovery and replication).

Cartilage Quality (dGEMRIC Index) Following Knee Joint Distraction or High Tibial Osteotomy.

Objective: High tibial osteotomy (HTO) and knee joint distraction (KJD) are treatments to unload the osteoarthritic (OA) joint with proven success in postponing a total knee arthroplasty (TKA). While both treatments demonstrate joint repair, there is limited information about the quality of the regenerated tissue. Therefore, the change in quality of the repaired cartilaginous tissue after KJD and HTO was studied using delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC).

RNA sequencing to predict response to TNF-α inhibitors reveals possible mechanism for nonresponse in smokers.

Background: Several studies have employed microarray-based profiling to predict response to tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (TNFi) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA); yet efforts to validate these targets have failed to show predictive abilities acceptable for clinical practice.

Methods: The eighty most extreme responders and nonresponders to TNFi therapy were selected from the observational BiOCURA cohort. RNA sequencing was performed on mRNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected before initiation of treatment.

Explorative analyses of protein biomarkers in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis achieving sustained drug-free remission after treatment with tocilizumab- or methotrexate-based strategies: from transcriptomics to proteomics.

Objectives: Previously, we identified networks of co-expressed genes related to achieving sustained drug-free remission (sDFR). The aim of the present exploratory analysis was to identify inflammatory proteins associated with achieving sDFR and their enriched biological pathways, and compare these pathways with those found in the previous transcriptomic analyses.

Methods: Serum samples were used from 60 patients who participated in the U-Act-Early trial and were treated-to-target with tocilizumab plus methotrexate, or tocilizumab or methotrexate; 37 achieved sDFR (≥3 months drug-free) and 23 did not (controls).

Can baseline serum microRNAs predict response to TNF-alpha inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis?

Background: In rheumatoid arthritis, prediction of response to TNF-alpha inhibitor (TNFi) treatment would be of clinical value. This study aims to discover miRNAs that predict response and aims to replicate results of two previous studies addressing this topic.

Methods: From the observational BiOCURA cohort, 40 adalimumab- (ADA) and 40 etanercept- (ETN) treated patients were selected to enter the discovery cohort and baseline serum profiling on 758 miRNAs was performed.

Monocyte hyporesponsiveness and Toll-like receptor expression profiles in coronary artery bypass grafting and its clinical implications for postoperative inflammatory response and pneumonia: An observational cohort study.

Background: Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass has a major impact on the congenital immune response, in which Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the first line of defence. Decreased surface expression of TLRs and impaired monocyte responsiveness to TLR ligands occur following surgery. However, the clinical implications of this altered immune response are not clear.