Biomarkers could predict long-term outcomes in childhood arthritis

Biomarkers in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis could be used to predict the status of their disease at 12 months, says data presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress. The team involved explained that the long-term disease status at 12 months was accurately predicted only after treatment had been initiated, in newly diagnosed patients.
“By predicting disease progression in these young children we can better understand the course of the disease and how best to treat the individual,” explains lead author, Prof James Jarvis.
Until now, blood gene expression profiling has only been possible to predict therapeutic outcome at six months.
“Using four month data (the earliest point at which samples were collected from children on treatment) we were able to determine strong predictive properties for disease status at 12 months. Thus, after children had initiated therapy longer term outcome was predictable.”
In this study, researchers also discovered the appearance of different mechanisms of response in Rheumatoid Factor (RF) positive and RF negative patients after four months of therapy, a finding that could explain the relative refractoriness of RF positive patients to otherwise effective therapies.