ArticleAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2008
The clinical response to infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis is in part dependent on pretreatment tumour necrosis factor alpha expression in the synovium.
Article in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 152 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lymphocytes as Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response in Rheumatic Autoimmune Diseases, Is It a Realistic Goal?Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Genome-wide association study meta-analysis identifies seven new rheumatoid arthritis risk loci.Nature genetics · 2010Pooled it
- Deep molecular profiling of synovial biopsies in the STRAP trial identifies signatures predictive of treatment response to biologic therapies in rheumatoid arthritis.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- High levels of interleukin-6 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis are associated with greater improvements in health-related quality of life for sarilumab compared with adalimumab.Arthritis research & therapy · 2020Trial
- Monocyte/Macrophage Abnormalities Specific to Rheumatoid Arthritis Are Linked to miR-155 and Are Differentially Modulated by Different TNF Inhibitors.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2019Trial
- Synovial phenotypes in rheumatoid arthritis correlate with response to biologic therapeutics.Arthritis research & therapy · 2014Trial
- Baseline tumour necrosis factor alpha levels predict the necessity for dose escalation of infliximab therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2011Trial
- Association of the response to tumor necrosis factor antagonists with plasma type I interferon activity and interferon-beta/alpha ratios in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a post hoc analysis of a predominantly Hispanic cohort.Arthritis and rheumatism · 2010Trial
- The effects of infliximab therapy on the serum proteome of rheumatoid arthritis patients.Arthritis research & therapy · 2009Trial
- A single tumour necrosis factor haplotype influences the response to adalimumab in rheumatoid arthritis.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2008Trial
- Pathogenic Drivers of Difficult-to-Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis: Synovium and Beyond.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Article
- Defining immune cell phenotypes that distinguish treatment responders and non-responders in RA.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2025Review
- Article
- Inclusion of fibrinoid necrosis increases the accuracy of synovial tissue assessment in predicting response to methotrexate: analysis of the UCLouvain Brussels ERA Cohort.Arthritis research & therapy · 2024Article
- Biallelic human SHARPIN loss of function induces autoinflammation and immunodeficiency.Nature immunology · 2024Article
- Effect of acupuncture on ischaemic stroke in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a nationwide propensity score-matched study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Hydrolat of Helichrysum italicum promotes tissue regeneration during wound healing.Physiological research · 2023Article
- DNA Methylation Signatures of Response to Conventional Synthetic and Biologic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Biomedicines · 2023Review
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether the heterogeneous clinical response to tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha blocking therapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be predicted by TNFalpha expression in the synovium before initiation of treatment.
methodsPrior to initiation of infliximab treatment, arthroscopic synovial tissue biopsies were obtained from 143 patients with active RA. At week 16, clinical response was evaluated using the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28). Immunohistochemistry was used to analyse the cell infiltrate as well as the expression of various cytokines, adhesion molecules and growth factors. Stained sections were evaluated by digital image analysis. Student t tests were used to compare responders (decrease in DAS28 > or =1.2) with non-responders (decrease in DAS28 <1.2) and multivariable regression was used to identify the independent predictors of clinical response.
resultsSynovial tissue analysis confirmed our hypothesis that the baseline level of TNFalpha expression is a significant predictor of response to TNFalpha blocking therapy. TNFalpha expression in the intimal lining layer and synovial sublining were significantly higher in responders than in non-responders (p = 0.047 and p = 0.008, respectively). The numbers of macrophages, macrophage subsets and T cells (all able to produce TNFalpha) were also significantly higher in responders than in non-responders. The expression of interleukin (IL)1beta, IL6, IL18, IL10, E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was not associated with response to anti-TNFalpha treatment.
conclusionThe effects of TNFalpha blockade are in part dependent on synovial TNFalpha expression and infiltration by TNFalpha producing inflammatory cells. Clinical response cannot be predicted completely, indicating involvement of other as yet unknown mechanisms.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.