Pre-defined Gene Co-expression Modules in Rheumatoid Arthritis Transition towards Molecular Health following Anti-TNF Therapy

Patient cohort Two prospectively followed RA patient cohorts were studied, in addition to 10 disease-free controls. The first cohort (adalimumab cohort; n = 70) were recruited from UK centres to the Biologics in Rheumatoid Arthritis Genetics and Genomics Study Syndicate (BRAGGSS), previously described by Oliver et al. [15] All selected patients were white adults with a clinician diagnosis of RA, and about to begin treatment with adalimumab for the first time for their RA symptoms. Patients were categorised as either good- or non-responders to treatment following 3-months of therapy using established EULAR response criteria.[16] Good responders (n = 50) were patients who achieved a 1.2 at the 3-month follow-up. Non-responders (n = 20) were defined as patients that had a 3-month DAS28 score of >5.1 (i.e. high disease activity) and an improvement of