Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be typed, grouped and categorized in different ways, and subgroup identification could help guide future research and treatment strategies based on which subtypes respond to which treatment. A new study explored an approach associating gene expression profiling with histologic analysis of synovium samples to define RA subtypes and then examined how…
Exploring the Toll background
Understanding how human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecule B27 promotes spondyloarthritis has intrigued researchers for four decades. Although the association between the single gene variant HLA-B27—specifically some of its subtypes—with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is particularly strong, how HLA-B27 directly influences disease development has not yet been clearly explained, although hypotheses continue to be generated….
Research in The New England Journal of Medicine has opened new avenues for exploring the pathophysiology of disease flares in rheumatoid arthritis.1 Through longitudinal genomic analysis, researchers have identified a naive B cell signature prior to rheumatoid arthritis flares, as well as a type of mesenchymal cell, that may play an important role in flare…