Pre-pregnancy gene expression signatures are associated with subsequent improvement/worsening of rheumatoid arthritis during pregnancy.

Background: While many women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improve during pregnancy and others worsen, there are no biomarkers to predict this improvement or worsening. In our unique RA pregnancy cohort that includes a pre-pregnancy baseline, we have examined pre-pregnancy gene co-expression networks to identify differences between women with RA who subsequently improve during pregnancy and those who worsen.

Methods: Blood samples were collected before pregnancy (T0) from 19 women with RA and 13 healthy women enrolled in our prospective pregnancy cohort.

Pregnancy-associated systemic gene expression compared to a pre-pregnancy baseline, among healthy women with term pregnancies.

Background: Pregnancy is known to induce extensive biological changes in the healthy mother. Little is known, however, about what these changes are at the molecular level. We have examined systemic expression changes in protein-coding genes and long non-coding (lnc) RNAs during and after pregnancy, compared to before pregnancy, among healthy women with term pregnancies.

Is gene expression among women with rheumatoid arthritis dysregulated during a postpartum flare?

Background: To evaluate our hypotheses that, when rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flares postpartum, gene expression patterns are altered compared to (a) healthy women, (b) RA women whose disease activity is low or in remission postpartum, and (c) pre-pregnancy expression profiles.

Methods: Twelve women with RA and five healthy women were included in this pilot study. RA disease activity and postpartum flare were assessed using the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI).

The Rheumatoid Arthritis Gene Expression Signature Among Women Who Improve or Worsen During Pregnancy: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To assess whether gene expression signatures associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) before pregnancy differ between women who improve or worsen during pregnancy, and to determine whether these expression signatures are altered during pregnancy when RA improves or worsens.

Methods: Clinical data and blood samples were collected before pregnancy (T0) and at the third trimester (T3) from 11 women with RA and 5 healthy women. RA disease activity was assessed using the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI).

Parental Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autism Spectrum Disorders in Offspring: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study.

Objective: Maternal rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the offspring. We assessed the potential influence of both maternal and paternal RA on the risk of ASD in offspring to disentangle the influence of genetic inheritance from other conditions potentially leading to fetal programming.

Method: The nationwide cohort study included all children born alive from 1977 to 2008 in Denmark (N = 1,917,723).