123 B-cells during preclinical phase of rheumatoid arthritis Table 1 | patient characteristics RA-risk PRAIRI RA-risk DOMINO Healthy controls RTX N=38 Placebo N=36 RA-risk – untreated N=10 HC N=9 Age (mean (SD)), years 51.8 (9.3) 50.5 (9.9) 52.9 (12) 39.7 (12.3) Male (n (%)) 13 (34%) 14 (39%) 2 (20%) 4 (44%) IgM-RF and ACPA both pos. (n (%)) 38 (100%) 36 (100%) 10 (100%) 0 (0%) CRP level at baseline (median (IQR)), mg/L 3.0 (1.3-5.2) 3 (1.0-5.0) 1.5 (0-2.5) NA ESR level at baseline (median (IQR)), mm/h 10.0 (5.0-15.3) 10 (5.0-15.8) 7.5 (2-18.3) NA Patients who developed arthritis in total (n (%)) 13 (34%) 14 (39%) 2 (20%) 0 (0%) Time to arthritis (mean (SD)), months 18.5 (10.8) 12.1 (11.3) 33 (13) NA SD; standard deviation, IQR; interquartile range, RF; rheumatoid factor, ACPA; anti-citrullinated protein antibody. The BCRh repertoire at screening is comparable between the RA-risk groups To investigate whether the RTX- or placebo- treated and untreated RA-risk individuals are comparable in their peripheral blood BCRh repertoire, an initial analysis of the BCRh repertoire on the RA-risk groups was performed at the time of screening, prior to treatment and associated interventions (e.g. vaccination, methylprednisolone, etc.). Results were compared with repertoires from healthy controls. At the screening visit, 46 individuals in the RTX- or placebo-group had dominant clones (61%). In the untreated group, we detected dominant clones in 6 out of 10 individuals (60%). Seven of the nine healthy controls had dominant clones (78%). The treated RA-risk individuals (PRAIRI: RTX and placebo arm) showed a similar number (1 (04.5) vs 1 (0-2), p>0.99) and impact (0.76 (0-4.4) vs 0.72 (0-1.94), p>0.99) of dominant clones compared with the untreated RA-risk group (DOMINO study; Supplementary figure 1A-1C). Within the treated RA-risk individuals, the RTX-group was compared with the placebo-group, but there were no differences in number of dominant clones (1 (0-4.5) vs 1 (0-2), p>0.99) nor impact (0.76 (0-4.4) vs 0.72 (0-1.94), p>0.99). Similar results were found in the placebo-group compared to the untreated group regarding the number of dominant clones (1 (0-2) vs 4.5 (1-9), p=0.07) and their impact (0.72 6
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