Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41132132›Full record

ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2026

Identification of a distinctive gene signature associated with disease activity in granulomatous myositis.

Iago Pinal-Fernandez, Nikolas Ruffer, Maria Casal-Dominguez, Katherine Pak, Felix Kleefeld, Corinna Preusse, Raphael A Kirou, Travis B Kinder, Stefania Del Orso, Faiza Naz and 9 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Iago Pinal-FernandezMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Nikolas RufferDivision of Rheumatology and Systemic Inflammatory Diseases, III. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Maria Casal-DominguezMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Katherine PakMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Felix KleefeldDepartment of Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0643-7313
Corinna PreusseDepartment of Neuropathology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Raphael A KirouMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Travis B KinderMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Stefania Del OrsoMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Faiza NazMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Shamima IslamMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Gustavo Gutierrez-CruzMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Margherita MiloneDivision of Neuromuscular Medicine, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Albert Selva-O'CallaghanSystemic Autoimmune Disease Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research, Barcelona, Spain.
Jose C MilisendaMuscle Research Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain.
Udo SchneiderDepartment of Rheumatology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9117-3307
Teerin LiewluckDivision of Neuromuscular Medicine, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0212-5697
Werner StenzelDepartment of Neuropathology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
Andrew L MammenMuscle Disease Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Funding

Intramural NIH HHS Z99 AR999999NIAMS NIH HHSNIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesGranulomatous myositis (GM) is defined by focal collections of activated macrophages that fuse to form multinucleated cells that aggregate into granulomas within skeletal muscle. This study aimed to elucidate the pathophysiology of GM by defining its specific transcriptomic profile.

methodsBulk RNA sequencing was performed on 722 muscle biopsies, including 38 from patients with GM, other myopathies and healthy comparators. Spatial transcriptomics and immunohistochemistry assays were used to identify the location of specific transcripts and proteins within the tissue.

resultsWe conducted a systematic analysis of the inflammatory pathways implicated in GM. This analysis revealed that GM muscle biopsies are characterized by elevated levels of IFNγ, IFNγ-inducible genes and proinflammatory cytokine genes including IL1B, TNF and TGFB1. Additionally, we identified a specific gene signature in GM, comprising 1293 genes that were significantly upregulated and 256 significantly downregulated. These genes were strongly correlated with transcriptomic markers of disease activity. Using this gene signature, support vector machine models accurately identified GM, achieving an area under the curve of 99.6% (99.0-99.9%) and an accuracy of 98.6% (98.2-98.9%). Among the identified genes, CHIT1 emerged as the most significantly upregulated gene, with its expression strongly correlating with disease severity. Furthermore, CHIT1 was detected at both the RNA and protein levels in granulomas and giant cells.

conclusionGM is transcriptomically characterized by a strong IFNγ signature and overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, including IL1B, TNF and TGFB1. Additionally, it exhibits a unique transcriptomic profile, including CHIT1, which correlates with disease activity.

Indexed as

GranulomaMyositisTranscriptomeAdultCytokinesFemaleGene Expression ProfilingHumansInterferon-gammaInterleukin-1betaMaleMiddle AgedMuscle, SkeletalTransforming Growth Factor beta1Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaCytokinesInterferon-gammaInterleukin-1betaTransforming Growth Factor beta1Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphagranulomatous diseasesmuscle biopsymyositispolymyositisRNA sequencingsarcoid

Identifiers

PMID41132132
PMCPMC12736163

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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.