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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by SARS‐CoV‐2, have profoundly affected human health. Booster COVID‐19 vaccines have demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing infection and severe cases. However, the effects of booster COVID‐19 vaccines on key immune cell subsets and their responses in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are not well understood. By using single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) combined with scTCR/BCR‐seq analysis, a total of 8 major and 27 minor cell clusters were identified from paired peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) which were collected 1 week before and 4 weeks after booster vaccination in stable RA patients. Booster vaccination only had limited impact on the composition and proportions of PBMCs cell clusters. CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (CD8+T_CTL) showed a trend toward an increase after vaccination, while naive B cells and conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) showed a trend toward a decrease. Transcriptomic changes were observed after booster vaccination, primarily involving T/B cell receptor signaling pathways, phagosome, antigen processing and presenting, and viral myocarditis pathways. Interferon (IFN) and pro‐inflammatory response gene sets were slightly upregulated across most major cell subpopulations in COVID‐19 booster‐vaccinated RA individuals. Plasma neutralizing antibody titers significantly increased after booster COVID‐19 vaccination (p = 0.037). Single‐cell TCR/BCR analysis revealed increased B cell clone expansion and repertoire diversity postvaccination, with no consistent alterations in T cells. Several clonotypes of BCRs and TCRs were identified to be significantly over‐represented after vaccination, such as IGHV3‐15 and TRBV28. Our study provided a comprehensive single‐cell atlas of the peripheral immune response and TCR/BCR immune repertoire profiles to inactivated SARS‐CoV‐2 booster vaccination in RA patients, which helps us to understand vaccine‐induced immune responses better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore the performance of routine assessment of patient index data 3 (RAPID3) in reflecting disease activity in Chinese rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Method: The clinical data of 189 consecutive RA patients, including RAPID3 questionnaire, Disease Activity Score based on 28‐joint count (DAS28), clinical disease activity index (CDAI) and simplified disease activity index (SDAI), and ultrasonography of hand and wrist joints were collected. The consistency between RAPID3 and DAS28, CDAI, SDAI in RA patients with different disease activities was performed by Spearman's correlations, kappa and/or weighted kappa coefficients. Result: RAPID3 score was significantly associated with DAS28 and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), DAS28 with C‐reactive protein (CRP), CDAI, SDAI (r = 0.797, 0.786, 0.784, and 0.760 respectively, P < 0.001 for all). RAPID3 was also significantly correlated with tender joint count, swollen joint count, ESR and CRP. The agreement of RAPID3 with DAS28 scoring systems was better in patients with moderate/high disease activity than those in remission/low disease activity. Ultrasonographic subclinical synovitis was presented in 42.3%‐48.6% of patients in remission/low disease activity defined by various scoring criteria including RAPID3 with no significant difference observed (P = 0.22, >0.05). Conclusion: RAPID3 showed good correlation with DAS28 scoring systems, especially in patients with moderate/high disease activity. RAPID3 is a reliable and convenient tool to monitor disease activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by type 17 helper T cell (Th17)/regulatory T cell (Treg) imbalance. The objective of this article is to study whether insufficient apoptosis contributes to the imbalance of Th17/Treg in rheumatoid arthritis. Methods Twenty-one rheumatoid arthritis patients and eight healthy volunteers were involved in this study. The percentage of CD4+ interleukin ( IL)-17+ T cells and CD4+ transcription factor-forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3)+ T cells were measured by flow cytometry, and active caspase-3 labeling was used to detect early apoptosis. The number of T cell subtypes in peripheral blood between the two groups was compared, as well as the apoptotic ratio. Results Neither the number of Th17 nor Treg cells was significantly different between rheumatoid arthritis patients and healthy controls. However, the number of regulatory T cells positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Disease Activity Score of 28 joints and rheumatoid factor. For the apoptosis of T cell subtypes, the percentage of apoptotic Th17 cells was higher in peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to controls. Furthermore, peripheral Th17 cells were more sensitive to apoptosis than Treg cells, but there was no difference between rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls. Conclusion It seemed that there was no relationship between the number and apoptosis ratio of peripheral Th17/Treg cells. But the number of Treg cells positively correlated with disease activity. Furthermore, Th17 cells are more sensitive to apoptosis after freezing, especially in RA patients. This serendipitous finding may provide new areas for the further study of these two cell populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To investigate the differences of B lymphocyte stimulator ( Bly S) level and frequency of lymphocytes between sero-negative and sero-positive rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) patients. Methods Sixty-nine RA patients were enrolled into this study and their clinical data were recorded. The Bly S levels in plasma, frequency of T and B lymphocytes, as well as T-helper ( Th) subgroups were compared between sero-negative and sero-positive RA patients. Furthermore, the correlations between clinical features and immunological features were analyzed. Results The plasma Bly S level in sero-negative RA was higher compared to the sero-positive RA patients (1.73 ± 1.71 vs. 0.99 ± 0.59 ng/mL, P < 0.05) and osteoarthritis ( OA) patients (1.73 ± 1.71 vs. 0.59 ± 0.12 ng/mL, P < 0.05). Plasma Bly S level was correlated with disease activity score ( DAS-28, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein), but had no correlation with the titers of rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti- CCP) antibodies. The patients with more advanced changes in X-rays had high plasma Bly S levels. No significant differences in the frequency of T lymphocytes, Th subpopulations and B lymphocytes in peripheral blood were observed between sero-negative and sero-positive RA patients. Conclusions Plasma Bly S level was correlated with disease activity and radiological progress, which indicates that plasma Bly S level may become a useful biological marker to reflect DAS and to predict RA prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]