Elevated IgA Plasmablast Levels in Subjects at Risk of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The disease process in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) starts years before the clinical diagnosis is made, and elevated levels of disease-specific autoantibodies can be detected during this period. Early responses to known or novel autoantigens likely drive the eventual production of pathogenic autoimmunity. Importantly, the presence of disease-specific autoantibodies can identify individuals who are at high risk of developing RA but who do not currently have arthritis. The goal of the current study was to characterize plasmablasts from individuals at risk of developing RA.

Methods

We investigated antibody-secreting plasmablasts derived from a well-characterized cohort of individuals who were at risk of developing RA, based on RA-related serum autoantibody positivity, as

SUBMITTER: Kinslow JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5042824 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature