Strategies to prevent rheumatoid arthritis in high-risk patients

Disclosure of Personalized Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Using Genetics, Biomarkers, and Lifestyle Factors to Motivate Health Behavior Improvements: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of disclosure of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk personalized with genetics, biomarkers, and lifestyle factors on health behavior intentions.

METHODS

We performed a randomized controlled trial among first-degree relatives without RA. Subjects assigned to the Personalized Risk Estimator for Rheumatoid Arthritis (PRE-RA) group received the web-based PRE-RA tool for RA risk factor education and disclosure of personalized RA risk estimates, including genotype/autoantibody results and behaviors (n = 158). Subjects assigned to the comparison arm received standard RA education (n = 80). The primary outcome was readiness for change based on the trans-theoretical model, using validated contemplation ladder scales. Increased motivation to improve RA risk-related behaviors (smoking, diet, exercise, or dental hygiene) was defined as an increase in any ladder score compared to baseline, assessed immediately, 6 weeks, and 6 months post-intervention. Subjects reported behavior change at each visit. We performed intent-to-treat analyses using generalized estimating equations for the binary outcome.

RESULTS

Subjects randomized to PRE-RA were more likely to increase ladder scores over post-intervention assessments (relative risk 1.23, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.01, 1.51) than those randomized to nonpersonalized education. At 6 months, 63.9% of PRE-RA subjects and 50.0% of comparison subjects increased motivation to improve behaviors (age-adjusted difference 15.8%; 95% CI 2.8%, 28.8%). Compared to nonpersonalized education, more PRE-RA subjects increased fish intake (45.0% versus 22.1%; P = 0.005), brushed more frequently (40.7% versus 22.9%; P = 0.01), flossed more frequently (55.7% versus 34.8%; P = 0.004), and quit smoking (62.5% versus 0.0% among 11 smokers; P = 0.18).

CONCLUSION

Disclosure of RA risk personalized with genotype/biomarker results and behaviors increased motivation to improve RA risk-related behaviors. Personalized medicine approaches may motivate health behavior improvements for those at risk for RA and provide rationale for larger studies evaluating effects of behavior changes on clinical outcomes, such as RA-related autoantibody production or RA development.

Laboratory biomarkers or imaging in the diagnostics of rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease in which a heterogeneous course and different pathogenic mechanisms are implicated in chronic inflammation and joint destruction. Despite the diagnostic contribution of anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) and rheumatoid factors, about one-third of RA patients remain seronegative. ACPAs belong to a heterogeneous family of autoantibodies targeting citrullinated proteins, including myelin-basic protein, several histone proteins, filaggrin and fibrin, fibrinogen or vimentin. In addition to ACPAs, antibodies directed against other post-translationally modified-carbamylated proteins (anti-CarP) were detected in up to 30% of ACPA-negative patients. Using phage display technology, further autoantibodies were recently discovered as candidate biomarkers for seronegative RA patients. Furthermore, in clinical practice, ultrasound may reveal subclinical synovitis and radiographically undetected bone erosions. To improve diagnostic certainty in undifferentiated arthritis and seronegative patients, ultrasound imaging and several new biomarkers may help to identify at risk patients and those with early disease. In this commentary we summarize recent advances in joint ultrasound and future potential of serological biomarkers to improve diagnosis of RA.

When and where does rheumatoid arthritis begin?

The major strides accomplished in elucidating the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have translated into therapeutic breakthroughs in clinical practice. However, currently available treatments work only for as long as they are taken. The development of curative treatments will probably require a better understanding of the earliest phases of RA and perhaps the identification of the etiological factors, which are probably numerous. These objectives are being pursued in studies of preclinical RA. The literature review presented herein indicates that the immunological conflict probably originates outside the joints, at mucous membrane sites and, more specifically, in the upper aerodigestive tract. The preclinical phase of RA can last for many years, and some patients probably never progress to arthritis. An immunological conflict develops then spins out of control, causing increases in autoantibody titers and subsequently in levels of serum markers for inflammation, before the development of the first joint symptoms. Improved knowledge of the preclinical phase, together with information from genetic markers, will allow the identification of profiles associated with susceptibility to RA and perhaps, in the future, the development of preventive strategies.

Precipitating and perpetuating factors of rheumatoid arthritis immunopathology: linking the triad of genetic predisposition, environmental risk factors and autoimmunity to disease pathogenesis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered to occur when genetic and environmental factors interact to trigger immunopathological changes and consequently an inflammatory arthritis. Over the last few decades, epidemiological and genetic studies have identified a large number of risk factors for RA development, the most prominent of which comprise cigarette smoking and the shared epitope alleles. These risks appear to differ substantially between anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACPA)-positive and ACPA-negative disease. In this article, we will summarise the risk factors for RA development that have currently been identified, outlining the specific gene-environment and gene-gene interactions that may occur to precipitate and perpetuate autoimmunity and RA. We will also focus on how this knowledge of risk factors for RA may be implemented in the future to identify individuals at a high risk of disease development in whom preventative strategies may be undertaken.