Predicting sensitivity to disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs with
pro-resolving mediators

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that leads to the progressive destruction of joints. The disease is not curable and requires life-long treatment.

It is difficult to efficiently stratify patients to align them with the most appropriate existing treatments. This matters greatly because some patients may exhibit treatment resistance, whilst others could potentially gain benefits from repurposed drugs.

Queen Mary researchers identified five specialized pro-resolving mediators as prognostic indicators for treatment success with methotrexate, the current first-line of treatment for RA.

These biomarkers could be used clinically to help identify patients unlikely to respond to methotrexate and other conventional DMARD therapy, fast-tracking them to advanced RA treatments, potentially preventing structural damage, and improving quality of life.