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Distinct synovial tissue macrophage subsets regulate inflammation and remission in rheumatoid arthritis
Alivernini S, MacDonald L, Elmesmari A, Finlay S, Tolusso B, Gigante MR, Petricca L, Di Mario C et al.. Nature medicine, 2020-06-29
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Immune-regulatory mechanisms of drug-free remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are unknown. We hypothesized that synovial tissue macrophages (STM), which persist in remission, contribute to joint homeostasis. We used single-cell transcriptomics to profile 32,000 STMs and identified phenotypic changes in patients with early/active RA, treatment-refractory/active RA and RA in sustained remission.
Key findings
- We hypothesized that synovial tissue macrophages (STM), which persist in remission, contribute to joint homeostasis.
- We used single-cell transcriptomics to profile 32,000 STMs and identified phenotypic changes in patients with early/active RA, treatment-refractory/active RA and RA in sustained remission.
- Each clinical state was characterized by different frequencies of nine discrete phenotypic clusters within four distinct STM subpopulations with diverse homeostatic, regulatory and inflammatory functions.
- This cellular atlas, combined with deep-phenotypic, spatial and functional analyses of synovial biopsy fluorescent activated cell sorted STMs, revealed two STM subpopulations (MerTK pos TREM2 high and MerTK pos LYVE1 pos ) with unique remission transcriptomic signatures enriched in negative regulators of inflammation.
Why it matters
This study used single-cell transcriptomics to profile synovial tissue macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis. It concerns rheumatoid arthritis and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 59/100
Published in a top-tier journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Nature medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Nature Medicine: journal h-index 763 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 729 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 91.1 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 46.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 5 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 437 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Mariola Kurowska‐Stolarska: h-index 44 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Oxford: institution h-index 2,205 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 12 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32601335) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 59 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0939-8
- PubMed: 32601335
- Original source →
- Free full text: ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Alivernini, S., MacDonald, L., Elmesmari, A., Finlay, S., Tolusso, B., Gigante, M. R., et al. (2020). Distinct synovial tissue macrophage subsets regulate inflammation and remission in rheumatoid arthritis. Nature medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0939-8
Vancouver
Alivernini S, MacDonald L, Elmesmari A, Finlay S, Tolusso B, Gigante MR, et al. Distinct synovial tissue macrophage subsets regulate inflammation and remission in rheumatoid arthritis. Nature medicine. 2020. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0939-8. PMID: 32601335.
BibTeX
@article{alivernini2020-32601335,
author = {Alivernini, S. and MacDonald, L. and Elmesmari, A. and Finlay, S. and Tolusso, B. and Gigante, M. R. and Petricca, L. and Di Mario, C. and others},
title = {{Distinct synovial tissue macrophage subsets regulate inflammation and remission in rheumatoid arthritis}},
journal = {Nature medicine},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1038/s41591-020-0939-8},
pmid = {32601335},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0939-8}
}
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