Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a persistent inflammatory ailment of the joints. It is an autoimmune disease, most commonly affecting the joints of the hands, wrists, and knees in a symmetrical manner. It can also cause complications of the lungs, heart, and eyes. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has many physical and social consequences and including pain, disability, impaired quality of life, and premature death.
Researchers suggest that RA should be formally separated into two disease subgroups based on patients’ autoantibody status. This may assist in studying their distinct pathogenesis and, the development of more differentiated therapy methods to better long-term patient outcomes.
According to Dr.Xanthe Matthijssen, RA can be divided into with and without autoantibodies. Although the disease activity improves over time in most of the RA subjects, subjects, improvements in long-term outcomes have been noted only in subjects with autoantibodies.
In the last ten years, it has become clear that there are differences in RA Prognosis with and without RA-associated autoantibodies. Furthermore, mortality and functional disability rates have been found to be decreased in autoantibody-positive -patients with targeted therapy adjustments.
The lack of a link between improved disease activity and improved long-term outcomes in RA without autoantibodies shows that the fundamental pathophysiology of RA with and without autoantibodies is distinct.
According to Dr.Xanthe Matthijssen, it is time to formally separate RA into two types: type 1 with autoantibodies, and type 2 without antibodies, for providing stratified treatment in autoantibody-positive and autoantibody-negative RA.