title: Towards prevention of autoantibody-positive rheumatoid arthritis: from lifestyle modification to preventive treatment.
abstract: Recent advances in research into the earliest phases of RA have provided additional insights into the processes leading from the healthy to the diseased state. These insights have opened the way for the development of preventive strategies for RA, which represents a significant paradigm shift from treatment to prevention and will have major implications for patients as well as society. It would be a huge step forward if clinical signs and symptoms, disability, impaired quality of life and the need for chronic immunosuppressive treatment could be prevented. RA can be seen as a prototypic autoimmune disease, and discoveries about the preclinical diseased state for RA could potentially facilitate research into prevention of other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as type 1 diabetes, SLE and multiple sclerosis. This review focuses on the current knowledge of factors contributing to the development of RA and discusses the opportunities for intervention.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Unit Cambridge, GlaxoSmithKline, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Danielle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gerlag
authors.affiliation: Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Jill M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge and Research and Development, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, UK paul-peter.x.tak@gsk.com.
authors.forename: Paul P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Tak
mesh_terms: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D012307:Risk Factors; D000069283:Rituximab / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D001323:Autoantibodies; D000069283:Rituximab
keywords: prevention; rheumatoid arthritis; rituximab; treatment