New Clues to Preventing Rheumatoid Arthritis

People who develop rheumatoid arthritis show signs of disease years before symptoms arise. Studies in the past have found that certain biomarkers or changes in immune cell populations are linked to rheumatoid arthritis risk.

New research from the University of Colorado takes this work one step further by using a comprehensive, unbiased approach to assess the immune cells in blood from individuals at-risk for rheumatoid arthritis. They compared immune cells from three different groups in their study: at-risk individuals due to a first-degree relative having rheumatoid arthritis, at-risk individuals with autoantibodies commonly seen in rheumatoid arthritis, and healthy controls. What they found was that several immune cell types were expanded in at-risk individuals.

With advances in artificial intelligence, it becomes more and more possible that doctors and researchers can perform larger studies to help precisely recognize abnormalities that could lead to rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases in the future. 

Citation: 

Inamo, J. et al. (2025). Deep immunophenotyping reveals circulating activated lymphocytes in individuals at risk for rheumatoid arthritis. J Clin Invest, 135(6):e185217. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci185217