Circulatory age-associated B cells: Their distinct transcriptomic characteristics and clinical significance in drug-naïve patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Age-associated B cells (ABCs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. However, the global gene expression and clinical significance of circulatory ABCs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remain poorly understood. Here, single-cell RNA sequencing identified nine B cell subsets in peripheral blood of RA patients, including ABCs.

Placental growth factor deficiency initiates obesity- and aging-associated metabolic syndrome.

Obesity often leads to inadequate angiogenesis in expanding adipose tissue, resulting in inflammation and insulin resistance. We explored the role of placental growth factor (PlGF) in metabolic syndrome (MS) using mice models of type 2 diabetes, high-fat diet, or aging. Reduced serum PlGF levels were associated with decreased insulin sensitivity and development of MS features.

Serum and urine lipidomic profiles identify biomarkers diagnostic for seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is defined as RA without circulating autoantibodies such as rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies; thus, early diagnosis of seronegative RA can be challenging. Here, we aimed to identify diagnostic biomarkers for seronegative RA by performing lipidomic analyses of sera and urine samples from patients with RA.

Methods: We performed untargeted lipidomic analysis of sera and urine samples from 111 RA patients, 45 osteoarthritis (OA) patients, and 25 healthy controls (HC).

Interferon-gamma signaling promotes cartilage regeneration after injury.

Osteoarthritis is a common chronic disease and major cause of disability and chronic pain in ageing populations. In this pathology, the entire joint is involved, and the regeneration of articular cartilage still remains one of the main challenges. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying cartilage regeneration in young mice using a full-thickness cartilage injury (FTCI) model.

The acute phase reactant orosomucoid-2 directly promotes rheumatoid inflammation.

Acute phase proteins involved in chronic inflammatory diseases have not been systematically analyzed. Here, global proteome profiling of serum and urine revealed that orosomucoid-2 (ORM2), an acute phase reactant, was differentially expressed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and showed the highest fold change. Therefore, we questioned the extent to which ORM2, which is produced mainly in the liver, actively participates in rheumatoid inflammation.

Cytokines, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors, and PlGF in Autoimmunity: Insights From Rheumatoid Arthritis to Multiple Sclerosis.

In this review, we will explore the intricate roles of cytokines and vascular endothelial growth factors in autoimmune diseases (ADs), with a particular focus on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). AD is characterized by self-destructive immune responses due to auto-reactive T lymphocytes and Abs. Among various types of ADs, RA and MS possess inflammation as a central role but in different sites of the patients.

Predictors of renal relapse in Koreans with lupus nephritis after achieving complete response: a 35-years of experience at a single center.

Background/aims: Renal relapse has known to be a poor prognostic factor in patients with lupus nephritis (LN), but there were few studies that identified the risk factors of renal relapse in real world. We conducted this study based on 35-years of experience at a single center to find out predictors of renal relapse in Korean patients with LN after achieving complete response (CR).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, laboratory, pathologic and therapeutic parameters in 296 patients of LN who reached CR.

Characteristics of patients with psoriatic arthritis in Korea: focusing on axial involvement.

Background/aims: We aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in Korean patients focusing on PsA with axial involvement.

Methods: A retrospective medical chart review was performed to identify PsA patients at a single tertiary center. Cases of AS patients with psoriasis were recruited from a prospective AS registry of the same center.

A causative role for periarticular skeletal muscle weakness in the progression of joint damage and pain in OA.

Although osteoarthritis (OA) is regarded as a disease of the articular cartilage, recent research has demonstrated alterations in periarticular muscles that surround the affected joint. Here, we investigated changes in periarticular muscle during the progression of OA, as well as the cause-and-effect relationship between muscle weakness and OA, in a mouse model of OA by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). Pathological phenotypes in the periarticular muscles were assessed in the early and late stages of OA by DMM.

Changes in the cholesterol profile of patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with biologics or Janus kinase inhibitors.

Objective: To assess the effects of biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on lipid profiles in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: This retrospective single-center observational study included patients with RA taking a tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor (TNFi), abatacept, tocilizumab, or a Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi) for at least 6 months. Changes in lipid profile were assessed at 6 months after the start of treatment, and associations between changes in lipid profiles and clinical efficacy, concomitant medications, and comorbidities were evaluated.

Salivary ultrasonography and histopathologic evaluation of secondary Sjögren's syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Novel modalities, such as salivary ultrasonography (SGUS) and shear wave elastography (SWE), have previously been introduced to evaluate Sjögren's syndrome (SS). However, in secondary SS (sSS), the diagnostic performance of SGUS and its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics have not yet been clearly defined. In this study, we aimed to investigate sSS in RA patients using SGUS and SWE and sought to determine its pathological correlations.

Role of high-temperature requirement serine protease A 2 in rheumatoid inflammation.

Background: High-temperature requirement serine protease A 2 (HtrA2) is known to be involved in growth, unfolded protein response to stress, apoptosis, and autophagy. However, whether HtrA2 controls inflammation and immune response remains elusive.

Methods: Expression of HtrA2 in the synovial tissue of patients was examined using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining.

Identification of MYH9 as a key regulator for synoviocyte migration and invasion through secretome profiling.

Objectives: 'Invasive pannus' is a pathological hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aimed to investigate secretome profile of synovial fibroblasts of patients with RA (RA-FLSs), a major cell type comprising the invasive pannus.

Methods: Secreted proteins from RA-FLSs were first identified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis.

A single-centre retrospective study of factors affecting steroid-free remission of immunoglobulin G4-related disease conducted in South Korea: A notable outcome after complete resection.

Objectives: Few studies have examined factors affecting steroid-free remission (SFR) in patients with immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD). The aim of this study was to investigate clinical factors affecting SFR in IgG4-RD.

Methods: The medical records of 68 patients who met the 2020 revised comprehensive diagnostic criteria for IgG4-RD were reviewed retrospectively.

Factors associated with the composition of the gut microbiome in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis and its value for predicting treatment responses.

Background: We aimed to investigate the gut microbiota of patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have been managed with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for a long time. We focused on factors that might affect composition of the gut microbiota. Furthermore, we investigated whether gut microbiota composition predicts future clinical responses to conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) in patients with an insufficient response to initial therapy.

Protective role of colitis in inflammatory arthritis propionate-producing in the gut.

Objectives: To investigate whether and how inflammatory disease in the intestine influences the development of arthritis, considering that organ-to-organ communication is associated with many physiological and pathological events.

Methods: First, mice were given drinking water containing dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) and then subjected to inflammatory arthritis. We compared the phenotypic symptoms between the cohoused and separately-housed mice.

Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is closely associated with the oral and gut microbiomes. Fungal cell wall components initiate inflammatory arthritis in mouse models. However, little is known regarding the role of the fungal community in the pathogenesis of RA.

Differential effects of periodontal microbiome on the rheumatoid factor induction during rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis.

Association between exposure to periodontal bacteria and development of autoantibodies related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been widely accepted; however, direct causal relationship between periodontal bacteria and rheumatoid factor (RF) is currently not fully understood. We investigated whether periodontal bacteria could affect RF status. Patients with preclinical, new-onset, or chronic RA underwent periodontal examination, and investigation of subgingival microbiome via 16S rRNA sequencing.

Mycobacterium potentiates protection from colorectal cancer by gut microbial alterations.

Not only are many Mycobacteria pathogens, but they can act as strong non-specific immunopotentiators, generating beneficial effects on the pathogenesis of some diseases. However, there has been no direct evidence of the effect of mycobacterial species on colorectal cancer (CRC). Herein, we showed that there may be a meaningful inverse correlation between the incidence of tuberculosis and CRC based on global statistics and that heat-killed Mycobacterial tuberculosis and live Mycobacterium bovis (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin strain) could ameliorate CRC development.

Time-integrated Cumulative Parameters Predictive of Radiographic Progression of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Real-world Data From a Prospective Single-center Cohort.

Objective: With many chronic inflammatory diseases, outcomes are determined by assessing both disease activity at presentation and cumulative activity over time. Here, we investigated whether cumulative activity better reflects the radiographic progression (RP) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than measurement of activity at a single time point.

Methods: From a prospective cohort of RA patients, most of whom were treated with anti-rheumatic drugs, we selected 117 subjects for whom laboratory, clinical, and radiographic parameters potentially influencing RP were monitored serially for more than 1 year.

Targeted Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Disease.

In the past few decades, biological drugs and small molecule inhibitors targeting inflammatory cytokines, immune cells, and intracellular kinases have become the standard-of-care to treat autoimmune diseases. Inhibition of TNF, IL-6, IL-17, and IL-23 has revolutionized the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriasis. B cell depletion therapy using anti-CD20 mAbs has shown promising results in patients with neuroinflammatory diseases, and inhibition of B cell survival factors is approved for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.