Research Highlight of the Year: Understanding rheumatoid arthritis remission

Investigating how immune cells can help sustain remission in rheumatoid arthritis 

Understanding remission: how changes in dendritic cells may transform RA care. 

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have looked at immune cells called dendritic cells that live in in the joints. They discovered that a type of immune cell called a dendritic cell provides a protective shield in healthy joints, and that this shield is doesn’t work as well in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), even in those in disease remission. They also showed that the failure to fully restore this shield may mean that remission is not stable in RA. 

These findings open new avenues for understanding how to keep remission in rheumatoid arthritis, which may lead to new approaches for treating active RA and preventing painful flare-ups, ultimately improving patients’ quality of life. 

This work was led by Professor Mariola Kurowska-Stolarska and Professor Stefano Alivernini along with first authors Dr Lucy MacDonald, Dr Aziza Elmesmari, Dr Domenico Somma and Dr Jack Frew at the Universities of Glasgow and The Gemelli University Hospital.  It was funded by Arthritis UK.