The 2025 annual conference of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) recently concluded. Running from October 24 through October 29, in Chicago, Illinois, the six-day annual conference was a massive event for the rheumatology community. ACR Convergence was the premier destination for health professionals to learn about the latest advancements, research, and breakthroughs in the field.
With that said, the scope of the submitted research was also extensive. More than 3,000 abstracts were submitted and are available to view online. Below you can find just a sampling of the abstracts focusing on rheumatoid arthritis topics.
- Objective: The objectives of this study were twofold: To characterize synovial tissue-secreted proteins in early rheumatoid arthritis patients that contribute to serum inflammatory profiles; To identify subsets of early rheumatoid arthritis patients with distinct serum levels of the protein signature and evaluate their association with disease activity and clinical response to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
- Conclusion: The study found a synovial tissue-secreted protein signature that contributes to the clinical characteristics and circulating inflammatory profile of early rheumatoid arthritis patients.
- Objective: The goal was to analyze circulating lipid and inflammatory profiles of rheumatoid arthritis patients, explore their association with disease activity and their modulation by biologic and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, and identify mechanisms underlying altered lipid metabolism.
- Conclusion: In vitro findings suggest an adaptive hepatic response to inflammation favoring energy mobilization over lipid synthesis, potentially contributing to metabolic dysfunction and CV risk, which may be mitigated by targeted therapies. Ongoing studies aim to further clarify these mechanisms.
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Serologic Status, and Risk of Heart Failure: A National Cohort Study
- Objective: Researchers evaluated the association between rheumatoid arthritis and subsequent risk of heart failure, focusing on ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure, as well as the role of rheumatoid arthritis serostatus (seropositive rheumatoid arthritis [SPRA], seronegative rheumatoid arthritis [SNRA]) and the use of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
- Conclusion: While the risk for ischemic heart failure was higher for both SPRA and SNRA, the risk for non-ischemic heart failure was higher only for SPRA and not for SNRA. Biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs do not seem to reduce but may instead increase the risk of heart failure.
- Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the persistence of Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKs) used to treat rheumatoid arthritis in the United States using real-world commercial (Marketscan) and government (Medicare) insurance claims data.
- Conclusion: Persistence with initial JAK for rheumatoid arthritis in real-world settings was poor for all FDA-approved JAKs as measured in two independent data sources, and two-year estimates were comparable between commercial and government health claims sources. Drug persistence differed across individual JAKs, with lower persistence rates for baricitinib compared to tofacitinib and upadacitinib. Compared to historical data, the introduction of oral JAKs does not appear to have improved therapy persistence, with < 30% treatment persistence at two years.
Safety of DMARDs in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Nationwide Study of ILD Risk and Outcomes in RA-ILD
- Objective: We aimed to assess the risk of interstitial lung disease development and serious adverse events across disease-modifying antirheumatic drug classes using a nationwide claims database.
- Conclusion: In rheumatoid arthritis patients without baseline interstitial lung disease, the risk of developing interstitial lung disease did not significantly differ across disease-modifying antirheumatic drug classes. In rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease patients, while rates of hospitalization due to interstitial lung disease exacerbation were comparable across groups, non-tumor necrosis factor inhibitor use was associated with increased risks of infection and pneumonia-related outcomes.
- Objective: Researchers sought to identify gene signatures that predict Adalimumab response and provide an initial spatial transcriptomic validation of their cellular context.
- Conclusion: The study identifies a key synovial gene signature that predicts clinical response to Adalimumab and demonstrates, for the first time, its restricted spatial expression in specific synovial tissue cell populations. Although preliminary, these Stereo-seq data strengthen the biological plausibility of the signature and support future validation in larger spatial cohorts.
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