Results RA patients (36 anti-TNF, 12 abatacept, 16 methotrexate monotherapy) and 14 healthy individuals were recruited. Two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test or unpaired t-test were used to obtain unadjusted values, analysis of variance (ANOVA) of log-transformed data was used to obtain age-adjusted values, Spearman’s rank correlation was used to compare correlation between Temra and CRP. Analysis was performed on live lymphocytes using FlowJo software version 10.8.
PBMC were stained with fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies for multi-parameter flow cytometry. Whole blood was processed by gradient centrifugation to obtain peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Whole blood was obtained prior to dose tapering (dose halving) and at the point of a flare.
A separate cohort of anti-TNF patients (longitudinal cohort) who have been in remission on a stable dose of anti-TNF for ≥6 months and no use of corticosteroids in the last 6 months, was also recruited. Patients on abatacept, or methotrexate monotherapy and healthy volunteers were recruited as comparison groups. Non-remission was defined as any other disease activity which does not fulfil the remission definition. Remission was defined as no recorded DAS28-CRP≥2.4, no swollen joints, no C-reactive protein (CRP) of >5mg/L, and on a stable DMARD dose and no reported disease flare/loss of remission in the 6 months prior. Patients were stratified based on disease activity. Clinical data and whole blood were collected. Methods RA patients on anti-TNF therapy were recruited from rheumatology clinic (cross-sectional cohort).
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