Arthritis Research Canada at
ACR Convergence 2025
Day 2: October 27
Acute Care Utilization in Patients with Antiphospholipid Syndrome and/or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
This study examined the use of acute care health services in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome and/or lupus. Compared to matched controls, patients with antiphospholipid syndrome and/or lupus had significantly more hospitalizations and emergency department visits during the year before and after diagnosis. This study highlights the high burden of acute care needs in these groups, showing the importance of early intervention and health care planning.
Research Team: Barber M, Yang F, Skeith L, Southern D, Clarke AE.
Predicting Worse Disease Activity, QOL, and Progression to Advanced Therapies at 12 and 24 months in Early RA: Results from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH)
In the Canadian Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Cohort (CATCH), 49% of newly diagnosed patients reported anxiety at diagnosis, and 41% at 3 months, even as disease activity improved with methotrexate. Anxiety (but not pain, depression, or fatigue) at 3 months was strongly associated with worse outcomes and 3-5 times higher likelihood of needing more advanced therapy with biologics or JAK inhibitors by 12 and 24 months. These findings highlight the need to better understand and address psychological distress early in RA care.
Research Team: Bartlett SJ, Valois MF, Bingham C, Pope J, Allard-Chamard H, Bessette L, Boire G, Hitchon C, Hazlewood G, Kuriya B, Thorne C, J Bykerk V.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Systemic Sclerosis are Dysfunctional and Have a Profibrotic and Senescent Phenotype
The authors studied mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from people with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and compared them to cells from healthy volunteers. They found that MSCs from people with SSc showed signs of aging, grow more slowly, and had higher activity linked to inflammation and scarring. This suggests that abnormal MSCs may drive tissue scarring in SSc, so targeting these cells could offer new treatment options.
Research Team: Brizio M, Brilland B, Lora M, Mancini M, Langlais D, Hudson M, Colmegna I.
Lung Transplant Outcomes in Patients with Myositis- and Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease Compared to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Multicentric Retrospective Analysis
This study compared lung transplant outcomes in people with interstitial lung disease caused by inflammatory muscle diseases (IIM) or systemic sclerosis (SSc) to those with no underlying auto-immune disease, i.e. idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Patients with IIM and SSc were generally younger, more often women, and had fewer other health problems than people with IPF. Although IIM patients needed more urgent transplants and longer ICU stays, and SSc patients had more infections after surgery, long-term survival and complication rates were similar across all groups. These results suggest that lung transplantation is a safe and effective treatment option for selected patients with lung disease from auto-immune diseases such as IIM or SSc.
Research Team: Chang A, Saleh N, Yu A, Jalaledin DS, Hoa S, Levy R, Wilson J, Poirier C, Yee J, Choi J, Landon-Cardinal O, Kim H, Huang K.
Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infected Patients with Rheumatic Diseases on Rituximab: A Subanalysis of the COVID-19 Vaccine Booster in Immunocompromised Rheumatic Diseases (COVBIRD) Study
This study examined COVID-19 infections in people with autoimmune diseases treated with rituximab. Nearly 1 in 4 patients developed COVID-19 despite having received 3 to 5 vaccine doses, and some experienced severe illness. Infected patients were generally younger, but otherwise had similar health profiles to those who did not get COVID-19 infections. This study shows that rituximab-treated patients remain highly vulnerable to COVID-19 and may benefit from personalized prevention strategies.
Research Team: Simard l, Amiable N, Colmegna I, Julien AS, Léger-Thériault S, Godbout A, Fournier L, Alfonso G, Bourre-Tessier J, Hudson M, Richard N, Makhzoum JP, Mendel A, Bernatsky S, Dionne M, Libman M, De Serres G, Fortin P.
Exploring the role of the gut microbiome in gout: Prospective analysis of dietary fiber intake and the risk of gout
This study found that increased long-term dietary fiber intake is linked to a lower risk of developing gout in women. After following over 80,000 women for over 34 years, those who consumed more fiber had a 31% lower risk of gout. The protective effect was most noticeable for cereal fiber, for example from whole grains and oatmeal. These results suggest that fiber may help prevent gout possibly by influencing the gut microbiome.
Research Team: Rai S, McCormick N, Yokose C. Terkeltaub R, Dodd D, Nazzal L, Li H, Sun Q, Choi HK.
The Assessments in Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) and Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN) Revised Classification Criteria for Axial Spondyloarthritis: Development and Validation in the Classification of Axial SpA Inception Cohort Study
This international study aimed to improve criteria for diagnosing inflammatory arthritis of the spine – axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Researchers developed new criteria that improved accuracy, correctly identifying ~80% of true cases while excluding ~90% of non-cases. The updated ASAS-SPARTAN criteria highlight the key role of imaging (especially MRI) and a focused set of clinical features which may help improve early and accurate diagnosis of axSpA.
Research Team: Maksymowych WP, van der Heijde D, Caplan L, Landew R, Gensler LS, Machado P, Sepriano A, van Gaalen FA, van Lunteren M, Vandermeer B, Akar S, Aydin S, Barliakos X, Bautista Molano W, Bernard S, Burgos-Vargas R, Carrino J, Cauli A, Chan J, Danve A et al.
Treatment with Rilzabrutinib was associated with Rapid and Sustained Reduction in Disease Activity in Patients with IgG4-RD Previously Treated or Naïve to B cell Depletion
Research Team: Stone J, Carruthers M, Meysami A, Baker MC, Ghetie D, Lally L, Martinez-Valle F, Dagna L, Schleinitz N, Choi J, Mannent L, Hagino O.
Validation of the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index in Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Inflammatory Arthritis
This study tested whether a questionnaire called the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) works for people who develop arthritis from cancer immunotherapy drugs. Among 96 patients, the HAQ-DI proved reliable, accurate, and responsive to changes in symptoms. The findings suggest it can be a useful tool to measure function in this group.
Research Team: Chubbs K, Ye C, Jamal S, Hudson M, Pope J, Appleton T, Hoa S, Saltman A, Himmel M, Maltez N, Khokhar F, Ladouceur A, Colmegna I, Choi M, Elsayed M, Roberts J.
Use of parenteral compared to oral glucocorticoids in early rheumatoid arthritis is superior for chance of being off steroids and escalation of therapy at 1 year
In this large Canadian early RA cohort (CATCH), the authors examined how the route of glucocorticoid administration affects long-term GC use and progression to advanced therapies. Only 25% of patients received glucocorticoids initially, and if they received oral steroids, they were more likely to remain on them long-term and to require advanced therapy with biologics or JAK inhibitors at 12 months. Use of glucocorticoids as intramuscular or intraarticular injections was associated with lower long-term steroid exposure suggesting it may support earlier discontinuation without compromising disease control.
Research Team: Fernandez Codina A, Valois MF, Bartlett SJ, Wahed M, Allard-Chamard H, Bessette L, Hazlewood G, Hitchon C, Kuriya B, J Bykerk V, Pope J.
Factors Associated with Mortality in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus under a Universal Healthcare System: Results from the CAPTURED Study, a Population-Based Cohort in Catalonia, Spain
This study found that patients with lupus in Catalonia, Spain had a slightly higher risk of death compared to those from the general population. Older age, male sex, and more severe health conditions were associated with higher mortality, while Spanish origin was associated with a lower risk. Socioeconomic status did not significantly affect mortality. This study underscores the impact of lupus on survival within a universal healthcare system.
Research Team: Gomez-Puerta J, Tebe C, Grau M, Frade Sosa B, Sarmiento-Monroy JC, Carbonell-Abella C, Martinez-Laguna D, Corzo P, Sanmarti R, Avina-Zubieta JA.
Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases (SARDs): Radiologic and Histologic Correlations
This study found moderate agreement between CT scans and lung biopsies for interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Poor correlation was found in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy , especially in anti-MDA5 positive patients with rapidly progressing disease. In systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, patterns were predictable on both scans and biopsies, while in myositis the histopathology was variable. This study shows the complex nature of interstitial lung disease in people with inflammatory diseases of the muscles, particularly in severe cases.
Research Team: Jalaledin DS, Pye A, Chang A, Saleh N, AlHajeri S, Daviault B, Shah A, Hoa S, Landon-Cardinal O, Yu A, Levy R, Wilson J, Poirier C, Choi J, Yee J, Kim H, Huang K.
Humoral immune responses to real-world recombinant zoster vaccination in systemic lupus erythematosus
This study investigated how patients with lupus respond to the recombinant zoster vaccine for shingles and whether immunosuppressant use affects vaccine response. Most lupus patients (68%) had a positive immune response to two doses of thevaccine, regardless of immunosuppressant use, but antibody levels decreased over time and returned to baseline after three years. This shows that immune responses wane over time, highlighting the need for monitoring and potentially booster doses to maintain protection.
Research Team: Mendel A, Lora M, Bernatsky S, Fortin P, Desjardins M, Rauch J, Sauvageau C, Vinet E, Colmegna I.
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Novel Anti-Obesity Medications and Serum Urate Change Among Patients with Gout and Baseline Hyperuricemia
This study shows that weight loss from anti-obesity medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide significantly lowers serum urate levels in gout patients with hyperuricemia. Greater weight loss, especially over 10%, led to larger reductions in serum urate, which reveals that anti-obesity medications could be an effective treatment for gout in obese patients.
Research Team: Tan K, Wang J, Chigurupati S, Challener G, McCormick N, Rai S, Porterfield F, Anekwe C, Wook Kim D, Stanford D, Apovian C, Choi HK, Yokose C.
Clinical Impact of Signs of Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition Disease (CPPD) on Radiographs of Hands and Wrists in a Real-World Cohort of Patients with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis
This study found that radiologic signs of deposition of calcium pyrophosphate crystals in early rheumatoid arthritis patients did not affect disease progression or clinical outcomes over 60 months; however, patients with signs of crystal deposits required more intensive treatment, including biologics and prednisone. The presence of calcium crystals appeared to be a co-existing condition rather than a distinct subtype of rheumatoid arthritis. More research is needed to better understand the impact of calcium crystal deposits in rheumatoid arthritis.
Research Team: Tremblay C, Carrier N, Allard-Chamard H, Marrugo J, Roux S, Boire G, Masetto A.
