The effect of sex on immune responses to a homocitrullinated peptide in the DR4-transgenic mouse model of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Ewa Cairns, Sheri Saunders, David A Bell, Garth Blackler, Patrick Lac, Lillian Barra

Open access · goldAbstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational autoimmunity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

2citing papers in PubMed

0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

T cell proliferative response to a homocitrullinated peptide correlates with joint pathology in collagen induced arthritis.Journal of translational autoimmunity · 2026
Article
Susceptibility to systemic autoimmunity rather than the presence of the HLA-DR4 peptide binding domain alone leads to severe inflammatory arthritis following inhalation of crystalline silica.Particle and fibre toxicology · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Ewa CairnsDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Sheri SaundersDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

David A BellDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Garth BlacklerDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Patrick LacDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Lillian BarraDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Western University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is more common and severe in women compared to men. Both women and men with RA express autoantibodies to post-translationally modified antigens, including citrullinated and homocitrullinated proteins or peptides. These autoantibodies are strongly linked with the HLA-DR4 gene. The objective of this study was to determine sex differences in immune responses to homocitrullinated antigens. We used a humanized animal model of RA, DR4-transgenic mice and immunized them with a homocitrullinated peptide called HomoCitJED. Immune responses in these mice were measured for splenocyte proliferation by tritiated thymidine incorporation, serum autoantibody production by ELISA and cytokine levels by multiplex. We found that T cell and antibody responses to homocitrullinated antigens were similar in male and female mice. However, we found sex differences in serum cytokine profiles with female mice having higher ratio of IL-1α to IL-5, suggesting imbalances in immune regulation. This is the first study to report that immune responses to homocitrullinated antigens can be differentiated by sex.

Indexed as

ACPA, anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodiesAHCPA, anti-homocitrullinated protein/peptide antibodiesanti-CarP, anti-carbamylated protein antibodiesAnti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodiesAnti-homocitrullinated (carbamylated) protein/peptide antibodiesConA, Concanavalin ACytokinesHomoCitFib, homocitrullinated fibrinogenMouse modelRA, rheumatoid arthritisRF, rheumatoid factorRheumatoid arthritissc, subcutaneousSexShared epitopeSI, stimulation index

Identifiers

PMID32743533

DOI10.1016/j.jtauto.2020.100053

PMCPMC7388343

OpenAlexW3016234837

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.