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New Data at EULAR Signal Advances in RA, Myopathy, Gout
Barcelona has become the world capital of rheumatology by hosting the 2025 Annual Meeting of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) in Spain.
'This is the world's largest rheumatology event,' said Daniel Aletaha, MD, president of EULAR and head of the Department of Rheumatology at the University Clinic for Internal Medicine III, MedUni Vienna, Vienna, Austria, during the conference opening session. He highlighted the scale of participation: 5125 abstracts submitted from 95 countries, 117 sessions, and 350 speakers from 45 nations.
Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disease
Among the plenary highlights was research led by Jason D. Turner, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England.
His comparative analysis of synovial tissue using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics identified overlapping disease pathways in spontaneous inflammatory arthritis and arthritis induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors.
'We found that the synovium in checkpoint inhibitor-associated arthritis is enriched with fibroblasts and T cells, is highly vascularised, and contains large numbers of CXCL9/10/11+ macrophages and CD8+ T cells. These findings support the current use of tumour necrosis factor inhibitors for this condition, although further investigation is needed to understand their applicability to spontaneous arthritis,' Turner explained.
Hector Chinoy, PhD, FRCP, professor of rheumatology at the University of Manchester and lead at the Salford Royal Adult Neuromuscular Service, Manchester, England, presented the results of the ALKIVIA phase 2 study.
This trial evaluated the efficacy of subcutaneous efgartigimod (PH20) administration in adults with active idiopathic inflammatory myopathy. The drug led to significant improvements in the Total Improvement Score compared with placebo and showed good tolerability and safety.
'These findings demonstrate the mechanistic importance of neonatal Fc receptor inhibition and suggest a potential pathogenic role for autoantibodies. These findings support the continued evaluation of the drug in the ongoing phase 3 trial' Chinoy said.
Scleroderma, Preclinical Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Gout, and Lupus
Adela‑Cristina Sarbu, MD, a researcher specialising in systemic sclerosis and interstitial lung disease at the University Hospital Bern, Bern, European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR), and the University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, presented the findings from the EUSTAR cohort.
In conclusion, exposure to prostanoids appeared to be associated with a slower progression of interstitial lung disease in patients with mild vascular disease. In contrast, exposure to endothelin receptor antagonists appeared to be beneficial in preventing symptom worsening in patients with more severe vascular diseases.
'No independent mortality benefit was seen with vasoactive or vasodilator drugs. Their effectiveness seems to depend on the severity of vascular disease' Sarbu noted, calling for further long-term studies.
The ALTO study, an extension of the APIPPRA trial, led by Andrew Cope, PhD, of King's College London, London, England, found that a 1-year course of abatacept in individuals at high risk of developing RA could delay disease onset by up to 4 years.
'Individuals with baseline autoantibody profiles are more likely to develop the disease and respond well to T-cell co-stimulation blockade. Abatacept reduces the symptom burden during treatment but does not provide sustained benefits after treatment discontinuation. No new safety concerns were reported,' according to Cope.
Edoardo Cipolletta, MD, rheumatologist at the Marche University Hospital, Ancona, Italy, and research associate at the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England, presented an analysis of data on primary care, hospitalization, and mortality outcomes related to gout, based on cohorts from the UK and Sweden.
The study found that achieving serum urate levels below 360 µmol/L within a year of initiating urate-lowering treatment was associated with a significantly lower risk for major adverse cardiovascular events.
The 5-year relative risk reduction ranged from 6% to 11%, with an absolute survival benefit of 1.3%-1.4%.
'The association was consistent regardless of prior cardiovascular disease and across all sensitivity analyses,' Cipolletta reported.
Richard A. Furie, MD, chief of Rheumatology at Northwell Health in New York, presented results from the REGENCY study, which evaluated obinutuzumab in patients with lupus nephritis.
Award Recognition
Miriam Ruiz Ponce, MSc, a predoctoral researcher at the Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute in Córdoba, Spain received one of the EULAR award for translational basic science.
She developed a mouse model of fatty liver disease associated with inflammatory arthritis to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and metabolic properties of apremilast, a drug commonly used in psoriatic arthritis.
'Early results have shown that the drug has promising effects, as it partially reverses liver damage, as well as inflammation. These are the initial results, but it could be a potential treatment for inflammation and for the deleterious effects on the liver in these patients. It is an honour to receive this award, which motivates us to continue our research under the leadership of my mentor, Nuria Barbarroja Puerto, PhD, the principal investigator of the potential treatment targeting inflammation and liver damage,' she said.
Chinoy disclosed financial relationships with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, PTC Therapeutics, and UCB. Furie disclosed the financial relationships with GSK and Genentech; the REGENCY study was funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche. Sarbu and Cope disclosed having no relevant financial relationships. Turner, Cipolletta, and Ponce did not provide conflict-of-interest disclosures.
