Excerpt
Basic and clinical research initiatives on the 2 major autoantibody systems in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA), have moved in parallel in recent years1–3. Indeed, recent works have disclosed some of the mechanisms underlying the genesis, maintenance, and role of the humoral autoimmune response in RA, identifying defective B cell tolerance checkpoints4 and dissecting the interactions among environment, genes, and adaptive immunity3. On the other hand, monitoring the autoimmune response in RA through its most accessible marker, i.e., serum autoantibodies, has gained growing interest as RF and ACPA are recognized as powerful predictive,…