Treatment outcomes stratified by interferon profile and autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis

J Autoimmun. 2025 Dec:157:103490. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2025.103490. Epub 2025 Sep 30.

Abstract

Despite treatment advances, some rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients fail to achieve remission with biological/targeted synthetic DMARDs. We prospectively evaluated 200 patients to determine if interferon profiles and autoantibodies predict treatment outcomes. A significant positive correlation between rheumatoid factor and IFN-γ levels was observed. Patients with high IFN-γ/low IFN-α2 profiles achieved significantly higher remission rates and demonstrated elevated B cell-stimulating cytokines with distinct immunological clustering patterns. This group showed superior responses to IL-6 inhibitors. Anti-carbamylated protein IgM antibodies differed significantly between groups. Interferon profiling offers a practical screening approach for personalized therapy selection in RA.

Keywords: Anti-CarP-IgM antibodies; Cytokine profiling; IFN-γ/IFN-α2 profile; Rheumatoid arthritis; Treatment response.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antirheumatic Agents* / therapeutic use
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid* / blood
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid* / diagnosis
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid* / drug therapy
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid* / immunology
  • Autoantibodies* / blood
  • Autoantibodies* / immunology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin M / blood
  • Immunoglobulin M / immunology
  • Interferon-alpha / blood
  • Interferon-gamma* / blood
  • Interleukin-6 Inhibitors
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prospective Studies
  • Rheumatoid Factor / blood
  • Rheumatoid Factor / immunology
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Autoantibodies
  • Antirheumatic Agents
  • Rheumatoid Factor
  • Interferon-gamma
  • Interferon-alpha
  • Immunoglobulin M
  • Interleukin-6 Inhibitors