A ROSALIND Case Study: The effect of immune modulators on Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the cells that line the joints. Over time, this can damage the joints, cartilage, and nearby bone. It’s not clear what triggers this problem with the immune system but some risk factors have been identified such as genetic factors, hormones, and smoking. In this study, circulating immune cells found in whole blood of RA patients and healthy donors where stimulated ex vivo using the TruCulture system, and their response was characterized using the nCounter® Autoimmune Profiling Panel. The panel was able to characterize the effects of the different TruCulture stimuli on the blood of healthy subjects, but also to show differences in the expression profile of RA patients compared to healthy subjects at baseline. Moreover, blood from RA patients showed a differential response to TruCulture stimuli notably in the pathways related to the complement system.

These differences both at baseline and upon stimuli may shed light on the biology underlying RA and how patients may respond to environmental or pharmacologic stimuli.