Research Highlights in 2024

Drugs used to treat osteoporosis could slow the progression of osteoarthritis, according to the findings of a study in mice.

The peptide hormone adropin, which is downregulated in dermal fibroblasts in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), inhibits TGFβ-mediated fibrosis in in vitro and ex vivo models of human skin, and has potential for the treatment of SSc.

In a head-to-head phase III trial of two drugs that target IL-5 or its receptor, benralizumab was noninferior to mepolizumab for the induction of remission in patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

A nanoparticle-based formulation of the anticancer drug pazopanib, which inhibits VEGFR1 and VEGFR2, shows promise as a disease-modifying drug for osteoarthritis.

New research has identified apolipoprotein E expressed by fibroblasts and macrophages in the infrapatellar fat pad and synovium as a pathogenetic mediator and potential therapeutic target in knee osteoarthritis.

Ribonucleoprotein complexes containing Xist, a long non-coding RNA involved in X chromosome inactivation, are immunogenic and promote autoimmune responses.

Results of a new study indicate that eosinophils have a role in maintaining bone homeostasis through their inhibitory effects on bone-resorbing osteoclasts.

Age-related B cells (ABCs) have pathogenic roles in autoimmune diseases. Research has now identified ZEB2 as the transcription factor that mediates differentiation into ABCs.

A meta-analysis of data from six genome-wide association study cohorts implicates several signalling pathways, including Hedgehog and Notch signalling, in Dupuytren disease.

The voltage-gated sodium channel Na_v1.7 is expressed on chondrocytes, regulates chondrocyte biology and osteoarthritis progression, and is a promising dual target for modifying disease while providing pain relief in osteoarthritis.

New findings provide insight into the natural history of subclinical synovitis, a reported predictor of the development of rheumatoid arthritis, and identify various factors associated with its reversal.

New research has shown that tryptophan metabolism is altered in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and that correction of this metabolic alteration has a protective effect against collagen-antibody-induced arthritis in mice.

New findings suggest that targeting the DAMP protein S100A4 could mitigate both inflammatory and fibrotic pathways in systemic sclerosis.

In patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis in sustained remission, reinfusion with rituximab after B cell repopulation resulted in fewer clinical relapses than did reinfusion following serological ANCA flare.