Autumn 2026 Press Review – Annals of Rheumatic Diseases

April 2026 to July 2026

Author: H. den Braanker

Ultrasound-defined presynovitis is associated with progression to clinical arthritis in ACPA-positive individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis: longitudinal insights from the Karolinska Risk-RA cohort

Kisten et al. followed 309 anticitrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive individuals with musculoskeletal symptoms, without clinical arthritis or Doppler-active synovitis. Over a median of 13 months, 117 (38%) developed clinical arthritis. Any minimal ultrasound finding tripled this risk (hazard ratio [HR] 3.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3-4.8); tendon sheath involvement was strongest (HR 3.6, 95% CI 2.4-5.4), rising with rheumatoid factor positivity (HR 4.2). Subclinical tendon involvement may thus mark the earliest imaging step towards rheumatoid arthritis and could sharpen risk stratification.

Spatial transcriptomics reveals mechanism of autoimmunity driven by internalised autoantibodies

Pinal-Fernandez et al. combined bulk RNA sequencing of 814 muscle biopsies, electroporation of patient immunoglobulin G (IgG) into primary human cells, and spatial transcriptomics. Anti-Mi2 dermatomyositis and anti-PM/Scl scleromyositis showed reproducible, autoantibody-specific signatures that patient IgG alone recapitulated in healthy cells, mapping to injured muscle fibres, macrophages, endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Internalised autoantibodies may therefore injure tissue directly, pointing to a shared mechanism across autoimmune diseases.

CNS immune remodelling in SLE associated with anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy

Sun et al. profiled 47,222 cerebrospinal fluid cells by single-cell RNA and T-cell receptor sequencing in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus treated with anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy (n=2-5 per timepoint). CAR-T cells reached the central nervous system (CNS), proliferative and cytotoxic at day 9 and memory- or exhaustion-like by day 60, while endogenous CD8+ T cells shifted towards memory subsets. CAR-T therapy can reshape CNS immunity, which may matter for neuropsychiatric lupus.

Comparison of the established ASAS definition and preliminary proposed data-driven cut-offs for inflammatory and structural MRI lesions in the sacroiliac joints for eligibility of patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis in clinical trials

Baraliakos et al. compared the 2009 Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) definition of a positive sacroiliac joint MRI with the 2021 preliminary data-driven cut-offs, in a post hoc analysis of the phase 3 COAST-X trial of ixekizumab in non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis. Baseline characteristics and week 16 outcomes were similar across definitions; patients fulfilling only one definition responded slightly less well. The 2021 cut-offs therefore add little to patient selection for trials.

Efficacy and safety of deucravacitinib, an oral, selective tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor, in patients with active psoriatic arthritis: 52-week results from the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 POETYK PsA-1 trial

van der Heijde et al. report 52-week results of POETYK PsA-1, a phase 3 trial randomising 670 biologic-naive patients with active psoriatic arthritis and at least one erosion to oral deucravacitinib 6 mg once daily or placebo. American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement at week 16 was reached by 54.2% versus 34.1% (p<0.001), responses rose further to week 52, structural damage was inhibited and no new safety signals emerged. Oral deucravacitinib could become a convenient targeted oral option in psoriatic arthritis.