Post-mRNA vaccine flares in autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases: Results from the COronavirus National Vaccine registry for ImmuNe diseases SINGapore (CONVIN-SING).

BACKGROUND: Studies of flares of autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD) after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination are limited by small sample size, short follow up or at risk of selection bias. METHODS: A national retrospective cohort study of consecutive AIIRD patients ≥12 years old, across 8 hospitals who received at least one dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Patients were included from the date of 1st vaccine dose and censored at the time of flare or on the date of the clinic visit at least 3 months from cohort entry, whichever came first. Predictors of flare were determined by Cox proportional hazards analysis. FINDINGS: 4627 patients (73% Chinese, 71% female) of median (IQR) age 61 (48, 70) years were included; 42% Rheumatoid arthritis, 14% Systemic lupus erythematosus and 11% Psoriatic arthritis. 47% were in remission, 41% low disease activity, 10% moderate disease activity and 1% in high disease activity. 18% patients flared, of which 11.7% were within the 3-month period of interest. 11.8% patients improved. Median (IQR) time-to-flare was 60 (30, 114) days. 25% flares were self-limiting, 61% mild-moderate and 14% severe. Older patients (53-65 years and >66 years) had a lower risk of flare [HR 0.6 (95% CI 0.5-0.8) and 0.7 (0.6-0.8) respectively]. Patients with inflammatory arthritis and with active disease had a higher risk of flare [HR 1.5 (1.2-2.0) and 1.4 (1.2-1.6), respectively]. Treatment with conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), immunosuppression and prednisolone was also associated with an increased risk of flare [HR 1.5 (1.1-2), 1.2 (1.1-1.4) and 1.5 (1.2-1.8) for prednisolone ≤7.5 mg respectively]. INTERPRETATION: There was a moderately high rate of AIIRD flares after mRNA vaccination but also improvement in several patients. Severe flares and hospitalisation were rare. Thus, vaccination remains safe and highly recommended.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine immunogenicity decay and breakthrough illness in adolescents and young adults with childhood-onset rheumatic diseases.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the humoral immunogenicity for 6 months after the two-dose coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccination in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with childhood-onset rheumatic diseases (cRDs). METHODS: This monocentric observational study was conducted between August 2020 and March 2022. Humoral immunogenicity was assessed at 2-3 weeks after first vaccine dose and 1, 3 and 6 months after the second dose by the cPass™ severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) neutralization antibody (nAb) assay. An inhibition signal of ≥30% defined the seroconversion threshold and the readings were calibrated against the World Health Organization International Standard for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. RESULTS. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE: AYAs with cRDs were recruited [median age 16.8 years (interquartile range, IQR 14.7-19.5), 52% female, 72% Chinese]. JIA (58%) and SLE (18%) comprised the major diagnoses. After second vaccine dose, 99% seroconverted with a median nAb titre of 1779.8 IU/ml (IQR 882.8-2541.9), declining to 935.6 IU/ml (IQR 261.0-1514.9) and 683.2 IU/ml (IQR 163.5-1400.5) at the 3- and 6-month timepoints, respectively. The diagnosis of JIA [odds ratio (OR) 10.1, 95% CI 1.8-58.4, P = 0.010] and treatment with anti-TNF-α (aTNF) (OR 10.1, 95% CI 1.5-70.0, P = 0.019) were independently associated with a >50% drop of nAb titres at 6 months. Withholding MTX or MMF did not affect the vaccine response or decay rate. The COVID-19 breakthrough infection was estimated at 18.2 cases/1000 patient-months with no clinical risk factors identified. CONCLUSION: Over half of AYAs with cRDs had a significant drop in SARS-CoV-2 nAb at 6-month despite an initial robust humoral response. JIA and aTNF usage are predictors of a faster decay rate.

Robust neutralizing antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in adolescents and young adults with childhood-onset rheumatic diseases.

OBJECTIVES: Immunogenicity to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in adolescents and young adults (AYA) with childhood-onset rheumatic diseases (cRD) is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the humoral immunogenicity and safety of the vaccines in our AYA with cRD. METHODS: A monocentric observational study with 159 AYA (50.3% female and 70.4% Chinese). Humoral immunogenicity was assessed at 2-3 and 4-6 weeks following first and second vaccination by cPass™ SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Assay. Inhibition signal of ≥30% defined the cut-off for positive detection of the SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Vaccine safety and disease activity were assessed within 6 weeks after second vaccination. RESULTS: A total of 64.9% and 99.1% of 159 patients (median age: 16.9, IQR: 14.7-19.5) mounted positive SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing responses after first and second vaccination, respectively. Most patients (89.8%) had ≥90% inhibition signal after second vaccination. Methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil increased the risk associated with negative cPass neutralization responses following the first vaccination. Holding both medications after each vaccination did not affect immunogenicity. There was no symptomatic COVID-19 infection. Local reaction remained the most common (23.3-25.2%) adverse event, without serious complication. Two and seven patients flared following the first and second vaccination, respectively. Subgroup analyses of the 12-18-year-old cohort did not show any differences in vaccine efficacy, predictors of poor response and general safety, but higher proportion of disease flares. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines were efficacious after the two-dose regimen in almost all AYA with cRD without serious adverse event. The rate of disease flare observed is 4.4% after the second mRNA vaccine dose.

A clinical prediction model for estimating the risk of developing uveitis in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To build a prediction model for uveitis in children with JIA for use in current clinical practice. METHODS: Data from the international observational Pharmachild registry were used. Adjusted risk factors as well as predictors for JIA-associated uveitis (JIA-U) were determined using multivariable logistic regression models. The prediction model was selected based on the Akaike information criterion. Bootstrap resampling was used to adjust the final prediction model for optimism. RESULTS: JIA-U occurred in 1102 of 5529 JIA patients (19.9%). The majority of patients that developed JIA-U were female (74.1%), ANA positive (66.0%) and had oligoarthritis (59.9%). JIA-U was rarely seen in patients with systemic arthritis (0.5%) and RF positive polyarthritis (0.2%). Independent risk factors for JIA-U were ANA positivity [odds ratio (OR): 1.88 (95% CI: 1.54, 2.30)] and HLA-B27 positivity [OR: 1.48 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.95)] while older age at JIA onset was an independent protective factor [OR: 0.84 (9%% CI: 0.81, 0.87)]. On multivariable analysis, the combination of age at JIA onset [OR: 0.84 (95% CI: 0.82, 0.86)], JIA category and ANA positivity [OR: 2.02 (95% CI: 1.73, 2.36)] had the highest discriminative power among the prediction models considered (optimism-adjusted area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.75). CONCLUSION: We developed an easy to read model for individual patients with JIA to inform patients/parents on the probability of developing uveitis.

Biomarker profiles of endothelial activation and dysfunction in rare systemic autoimmune diseases: implications for cardiovascular risk.

OBJECTIVES: Vasculopathy is an important hallmark of systemic chronic inflammatory connective tissue diseases (CICTD) and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We investigated disease-specific biomarker profiles associated with endothelial dysfunction, angiogenic homeostasis and (tissue) inflammation, and their relation to disease activity in rare CICTD. METHODS: A total of 38 serum proteins associated with endothelial (dys)function and inflammation were measured by multiplex-immunoassay in treatment-naive patients with localized scleroderma (LoS, 30), eosinophilic fasciitis (EF, 8) or (juvenile) dermatomyositis (34), 119 (follow-up) samples during treatment, and 65 controls. Data were analysed by unsupervised clustering, Spearman correlations, non-parametric t test and ANOVA. RESULTS: The systemic CICTD, EF and dermatomyositis, had distinct biomarker profiles, with 'signature' markers galectin-9 (dermatomyositis) and CCL4, CCL18, CXCL9, fetuin, fibronectin, galectin-1 and TSP-1 (EF). In LoS, CCL18, CXCL9 and CXCL10 were subtly increased. Furthermore, dermatomyositis and EF shared upregulation of markers related to interferon (CCL2, CXCL10), endothelial activation (VCAM-1), inhibition of angiogenesis (angiopoietin-2, sVEGFR-1) and inflammation/leucocyte chemo-attraction (CCL19, CXCL13, IL-18, YKL-40), as well as disturbance of the Angiopoietin-Tie receptor system and VEGF-VEGFR system. These profiles were related to disease activity, and largely normalized during treatment. However, a subgroup of CICTD patients showed continued elevation of CXCL10, CXCL13, galectin-9, IL-18, TNFR2, VCAM-1, and/or YKL-40 during clinically inactive disease, possibly indicating subclinical interferon-driven inflammation and/or endothelial dysfunction. CONCLUSION: CICTD-specific biomarker profiles revealed an anti-angiogenic, interferon-driven environment during active disease, with incomplete normalization under treatment. This warrants further investigation into monitoring of vascular biomarkers during clinical follow-up, or targeted interventions to minimize cardiovascular risk in the long term.

Juvenile-Onset Immunodeficiency Secondary to Anti-Interferon-Gamma Autoantibodies.

Immunodeficiency secondary to anti-interferon-gamma (anti-IFN-γ) autoantibodies was first described in 2004 as an acquired defect in the IFN-γ pathway leading to susceptibility to multiple opportunistic infections, including dimorphic fungi, parasites, and bacteria, especially tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) species. It has so far only been described in adult patients. We present 2 cases of disseminated NTM infections in otherwise immunocompetent children. A 16-year-old girl with Sweet's syndrome-like neutrophilic dermatosis developed recurrent fever and cervical lymphadenitis secondary to Mycobacterium abscessus. A 10-year-old boy with a history of prolonged fever, aseptic meningitis, aortitis, and arteritis in multiple blood vessels developed thoracic vertebral osteomyelitis secondary to Mycobacterium avium complex. Both patients were found to have positive serum neutralizing anti-IFNγ autoantibodies. Testing for anti-IFNγ autoantibodies should be considered in otherwise healthy immunocompetent hosts with recurrent or disseminated NTM infection. This represents a phenocopy of primary immunodeficiency which has been recently described only in adults. We report the first two cases of this phenomenon to affect children.

Immunome perturbation is present in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who are in remission and will relapse upon anti-TNFα withdrawal.

OBJECTIVES: Biologics treatment with antitumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is efficacious in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Despite displaying clinical inactivity during treatment, many patients will flare on cessation of therapy. The inability to definitively discriminate patients who will relapse or continue to remain in remission after therapy withdrawal is currently a major unmet medical need. CD4 T cells have been implicated in active disease, yet how they contribute to disease persistence despite treatment is unknown. METHODS: We interrogated the circulatory reservoir of CD4+ immune subsets at the single-cell resolution with mass cytometry (cytometry by time of flight) of patients with JIA (n=20) who displayed continuous clinical inactivity for at least 6 months with anti-TNFα and were subsequently withdrawn from therapy for 8 months, and scored as relapse or remission. These patients were examined prior to therapy withdrawal for putative subsets that could discriminate relapse from remission. We verified on a separate JIA cohort (n=16) the dysregulation of these circulatory subsets 8 months into therapy withdrawal. The immunological transcriptomic signature of CD4 memory in relapse/remission patients was examined with NanoString. RESULTS: An inflammatory memory subset of CD3+CD4+CD45RA-TNFα+ T cells deficient in immune checkpoints (PD1-CD152-) was present in relapse patients prior to therapy withdrawal. Transcriptomic profiling reveals divergence between relapse and remission patients in disease-centric pathways involving (1) T-cell receptor activation, (2) apoptosis, (3) TNFα, (4) nuclear factor-kappa B and (5) mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling. CONCLUSIONS: A unique discriminatory immunomic and transcriptomic signature is associated with relapse patients and may explain how relapse occurs.

Molecular mechanisms of autophagic memory in pathogenic T cells in human arthritis.

T-cell resilience is critical to the immune pathogenesis of human autoimmune arthritis. Autophagy is essential for memory T cell generation and associated with pathogenesis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our aim here was to delineate the role and molecular mechanism of autophagy in resilience and persistence of pathogenic T cells from autoimmune arthritis. We demonstrated "Autophagic memory" as elevated autophagy levels in CD4+ memory T cells compared to CD4+ naive T cells and in Jurkat Human T cell line trained with starvation stress. We then showed increased levels of autophagy in pathogenic CD4+ T cells subsets from autoimmune arthritis patients. Using RNA-sequencing, transcription factor gene regulatory network and methylation analyses we identified MYC as a key regulator of autophagic memory. We validated MYC levels using qPCR and further demonstrated that inhibiting MYC increased autophagy. The present study proposes the novel concept of autophagic memory and suggests that autophagic memory confers metabolic advantage to pathogenic T cells from arthritis and supports its resilience and long term survival. Particularly, suppression of MYC imparted the heightened autophagy levels in pathogenic T cells. These studies have a direct translational valency as they identify autophagy and its metabolic controllers as a novel therapeutic target.

TCR repertoire sequencing identifies synovial Treg cell clonotypes in the bloodstream during active inflammation in human arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: The imbalance between effector and regulatory T (Treg) cells is crucial in the pathogenesis of autoimmune arthritis. Immune responses are often investigated in the blood because of its accessibility, but circulating lymphocytes are not representative of those found in inflamed tissues. This disconnect hinders our understanding of the mechanisms underlying disease. Our goal was to identify Treg cells implicated in autoimmunity at the inflamed joints, and also readily detectable in the blood upon recirculation. METHODS: We compared Treg cells of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis responding or not to therapy by using: (i) T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing, to identify clonotypes shared between blood and synovial fluid; (ii) FOXP3 Treg cell-specific demethylated region DNA methylation assays, to investigate their stability and (iii) flow cytometry and suppression assays to probe their tolerogenic functions. RESULTS: We found a subset of synovial Treg cells that recirculated into the bloodstream of patients with juvenile idiopathic and adult rheumatoid arthritis. These inflammation-associated (ia)Treg cells, but not other blood Treg cells, expanded during active disease and proliferated in response to their cognate antigens. Despite the typical inflammatory-skewed balance of immune mechanisms in arthritis, iaTreg cells were stably committed to the regulatory lineage and fully suppressive. A fraction of iaTreg clonotypes were in common with pathogenic effector T cells. CONCLUSIONS: Using an innovative antigen-agnostic approach, we uncovered a population of bona fide synovial Treg cells readily accessible from the blood and selectively expanding during active disease, paving the way to non-invasive diagnostics and better understanding of the pathogenesis of autoimmunity.

Paediatric rheumatology clinic population in Southeast Asia: are we different?

Objectives: To examine the descriptive epidemiology of the patient population referred to paediatric rheumatology centres (PRCs) in Southeast Asia (SEA) and to compare the frequency of conditions encountered with other PRC populations. Methods: A web-based Registry for Childhood Onset Paediatric Rheumatic Diseases was established in 2009 and seven PRCs in four SEA countries, where paediatric rheumatologists are available, participated in a prospective 24 month data collection (43 months for Singapore). Results: The number of patients analysed was 4038 (788 from Malaysia, 711 from the Philippines, 1943 from Singapore and 596 from Thailand). Over 70% of patients evaluated in PRCs in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had rheumatic diseases (RDs), as compared with one-half of the proportion seen in Singaporean PRCs, which was similar to the Western PRC experience. Among RDs diagnosed (n = 2602), JIA was the most common disease encountered in Malaysia (41%) and Thailand (61%) as compared with systemic vasculitides in the Philippines (37%) and Singapore (35%) among which Henoch-Schönlein purpura was the most prevalent. SLE and related diseases were more common, but idiopathic pain syndrome and abnormal immunological laboratory tests were rarer than those seen in the West. JIA subtype distributions were different among countries. Among non-RDs (n = 1436), orthopaedic and related conditions predominated (21.7-59.4%). Conclusion: The frequencies of RDs seen by SEA PRCs were different from those in the West. Systemic vasculitides and SLE were common in addition to JIA. Paediatric rheumatologist availability and healthcare accessibility partially explain these observed discrepancies.

Diagnostic performance of classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus: A validation study from Singapore.

Introduction: Classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) include American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1997, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) 2012 and European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR)/ACR 2019 criteria. Their performance in an Asian childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) population remains unclear as the clinical manifestations differ. We aim to evaluate the diagnostic performance in a cSLE cohort in Singapore. Method: Cases were physician-diagnosed cSLE, while controls were children with mixed and undifferentiated connective tissue disease that posed an initial diagnostic challenge. Data were retrospec-tively reviewed to establish the 3 criteria fulfilled at diagnosis and over time. Results: The study population included 120 cSLE cases and 36 controls. At diagnosis, 102 (85%) patients fulfilled all criteria. SLICC-2012 had the highest sensitivity (97.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 92.3-99.5), while ACR-1997 had the highest specificity (91.7%, 95% CI 77.5-98.3). All criteria had diagnostic accuracies at more than 85%. Over time, 113 (94%) fulfilled all criteria. SLICC-2012 remained the criteria with the highest sensitivity (99.2%, 95% CI 95.4-99.9), while ACR-1997 had the highest specificity (75.0%, 95% CI 57.8-87.9). Only SLICC-2012 and ACR-1997 had more than 85% diagnostic accuracy over time. Using a cutoff score of ≥13 for EULAR/ACR-2019 criteria resulted in improved diagnostic performance. Conclusion: SLICC-2012 criteria had the highest sensitivity early in the disease course in this first study evaluating the SLE classification criteria performance in a Southeast Asian cSLE cohort, while the ACR-1997 criteria had the highest specificity. Using a cutoff score of ≥13 for EULAR/ACR-2019 improved the diagnostic performance.

Anti-tumor necrosis factor (aTNF) weaning strategy in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA): does duration matter?

BACKGROUND: To compare outcomes of a short and long weaning strategy of anti-tumor necrosis factor (aTNF) in our prospective juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) cohort. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: JIA patients on subcutaneous adalimumab with at least 6 months of follow-up were recruited (May 2010-Jan 2022). Once clinical remission on medication (CRM) was achieved, adalimumab was weaned according to two protocols-short (every 4-weekly for 6 months and stopped) and long (extending dosing interval by 2 weeks for three cycles until 12-weekly intervals and thereafter stopped) protocols. Outcomes assessed were flare rates, time to flare, and predictors. RESULTS: Of 110 JIA patients, 77 (83% male, 78% Chinese; 82% enthesitis-related arthritis) underwent aTNF weaning with 53% on short and 47% on long weaning protocol. The total flare rate during and after stopping aTNF was not different between the two groups. The time to flare after stopping aTNF was not different (p = 0.639). Positive anti-nuclear antibody increased flare risk during weaning in long weaning group (OR 7.0, 95%CI: 1.2-40.8). Positive HLA-B27 (OR 6.5, 95%CI: 1.1-30.4) increased flare risks after stopping aTNF. CONCLUSION: Duration of weaning aTNF may not minimize flare rate or delay time to flare after stopping treatment in JIA patients. Recapture rates for inactive disease at 6 months remained high for patients who flared after weaning or discontinuing medication.

Genetic interrogation for sequence and copy number variants in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Early-onset systemic lupus erythematosus presents with a more severe disease and is associated with a greater genetic burden, especially in patients from Black, Asian or Hispanic ancestries. Next-generation sequencing techniques, notably whole exome sequencing, have been extensively used in genomic interrogation studies to identify causal disease variants that are increasingly implicated in the development of autoimmunity. This Review discusses the known casual variants of polygenic and monogenic systemic lupus erythematosus and its implications under certain genetic disparities while suggesting an age-based sequencing strategy to aid in clinical diagnostics and patient management for improved patient care.

Artificial intelligence and high-dimensional technologies in the theragnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a complex, systemic autoimmune disease characterised by immune dysregulation. Pathogenesis is multifactorial, contributing to clinical heterogeneity and posing challenges for diagnosis and treatment. Although strides in treatment options have been made in the past 15 years, with the US Food and Drug Administration approval of belimumab in 2011, there are still many patients who have inadequate responses to therapy. A better understanding of underlying disease mechanisms with a holistic and multiparametric approach is required to improve clinical assessment and treatment. This Review discusses the evolution of genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics in the study of systemic lupus erythematosus and ways to amalgamate these silos of data with a systems-based approach while also discussing ways to strengthen the overall process. These mechanistic insights will facilitate the discovery of functionally relevant biomarkers to guide rational therapeutic selection to improve patient outcomes.

Recommendations for enhanced primary series (third dose) COVID-19 vaccination for people with rheumatic diseases: Chapter of Rheumatologists, College of Physicians, Singapore.

Introduction: This review aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for an enhanced primary series (third dose) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in people with rheumatic diseases (PRDs) in the local and regional context. Methods: Literature reviews were performed regarding the necessity, efficacy, safety and strategies for enhanced primary series COVID-19 vaccination in PRDs. Recommendations were developed based on evidence according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. Evidence was synthesised by eight working group members, and the consensus was achieved by a Delphi method with nine members of an expert task force panel. Results: Two graded recommendations and one ungraded position statement were developed. PRDs have impaired immunogenicity from the COVID-19 vaccine and are at an increased risk of postvaccine breakthrough severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and poor clinical outcomes, compared to the general population. We strongly recommend that PRDs on immunomodulatory drugs be offered a third dose of the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine as part of an enhanced primary series, after the standard two-dose regimen. We conditionally recommend that the third dose of mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 be given at least 4 weeks after the second dose or as soon as possible thereafter. There is insufficient data to inform whether the third mRNA vaccine should be homologous or heterologous in PRDs. Conclusion: These recommendations that were developed through evidence synthesis and formal consensus process provide guidance for an enhanced primary series COVID-19 vaccination in PRDs.

Latent Class Analysis Identifies Distinct Phenotypes of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Predictive of Flares after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination: Results from the Coronavirus National Vaccine Registry for ImmuNe Diseases SINGapore (CONVIN-SING).

We recently reported that messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination was associated with flares in 9% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Herein, we focused our analysis on patients from a multi-ethnic Southeast Asian lupus cohort with the intention of identifying distinct phenotypes associated with increased flares after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS: Six hundred and thirty-three SLE patients from eight public healthcare institutions were divided into test and validation cohorts based on healthcare clusters. Latent class analysis was performed based on age, ethnicity, gender, vaccine type, past COVID-19 infection, interruption of immunomodulatory/immunosuppressive treatment for vaccination, disease activity and background immunomodulatory/immunosuppressive treatment as input variables. Data from both cohorts were then combined for mixed effect Cox regression to determine which phenotypic cluster had a higher risk for time to first SLE flare, adjusted for the number of vaccine doses. RESULTS: Two clusters were identified in the test (C1 vs. C2), validation (C1' vs. C2') and combined (C1″ vs. C2″) cohorts, with corresponding clusters sharing similar characteristics. Of 633 SLE patients, 88.6% were female and there was multi-ethnic representation with 74.9% Chinese, 14.2% Malay and 4.6% Indian. The second cluster (C2, C2' and C2″) was smaller compared to the first. SLE patients in the second cluster (C2 and C2') were more likely to be male, non-Chinese and younger, with higher baseline disease activity. The second cluster (C2″) had more incident flares (hazard ratio = 1.4, 95% confidence interval 1.1-1.9, p = 0.014) after vaccination. A higher proportion of patients in C2″ had immunomodulatory/immunosuppressive treatment interruption for vaccination as compared to patients in C1″ (6.6% vs. 0.2%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We identified two distinct phenotypic clusters of SLE with different patterns of flares following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Caution has to be exercised in monitoring for post-vaccination flares in patients with risk factors for flares such as non-Chinese ethnicity, young age, male gender and suboptimal disease control at the time of vaccination.

Comparison of the outcomes between early and late anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy in patients with enthesitis-related subcategory of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a multi-center study in Southeast Asia.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the impact of delayed initiation of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy in patients with enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA). Here, we compared the impact of delayed treatment on disease outcomes of ERA patients in Southeast Asia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 149 ERA patients from Thailand and Singapore. Early (e-aTNF) and late (l-aTNF) treatment groups received anti-TNF therapy starting at ≤6 months and >6 months, respectively, after diagnosis. Outcomes included mean differences in disease activity parameters, Juvenile Spondyloarthritis Disease Activity (JSpADA) score, Juvenile Arthritis Diseases Activity (JADAS)-10 score, and American College of Rheumatology Pediatric (ACR Pedi) criteria, and the frequency of clinically inactive disease and first flare event. RESULTS: The mean changes in JSpADA (p = 0.002) and JADAS-10 (p < 0.001) scores over time were significantly higher in the e-aTNF group than in the l-aTNF group. A significantly higher proportion of patients in the e-aTNF group than l-aTNF group satisfied ACR Pedi 100 criteria at 2 years (p = 0.042). All other long-term outcomes were not significantly different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although early anti-TNF treatment improved disease activity parameters somewhat better than delayed anti-TNF therapy, there was no significant difference in long-term outcomes.

Sacroiliitis at diagnosis as a protective predictor against disease flare after stopping medication: outcomes of a Southeast Asian enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) longitudinal cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To assess short- and long-term outcomes of ERA in a large monocentric cohort in Singapore. METHODS: Children diagnosed with ERA according to ILAR criteria from 2002 to 2021 were recruited. Nonparametric statistics were used to describe the data. Outcomes were defined according to modified Wallace criteria, and probabilities and predictors were determined using Kaplan-Meier survival and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-one ERA patients (male 86%; Chinese 81%) were included. The median age at onset was 11.9 years (IQR: 9.4-13.9), and disease duration was 5.3 years (IQR: 2.9-8.4). At diagnosis, 39% of the patients had sacroiliitis. HLA-B27 was positive in 83%, and biologics were used in 72% of the patients. Clinical inactive disease (CID) was achieved in 92% of the patients, of which 27% achieved within 6 months. Sacroiliitis at diagnosis is an unfavorable predictor of early CID at 6 months. Medication was discontinued in one-third of the patients. Favorable predictor of medication withdrawal includes male gender, while unfavorable predictors include positive HLA-B27 and ANA. Two-thirds of the patients with CID had at least one disease flare. Sacroiliitis at diagnosis is a protective predictor of flare after stopping medication. CONCLUSION: Despite a high proportion of ERA patients achieving CID, only one-third could stop medication with high rates of disease flare. Unfavorable predictors include older age at onset, HLA-B27, and ANA positivity. While sacroiliitis at diagnosis is a negative predictor of CID at 6 months, it is associated with less disease flare after discontinuing medication.

Transition readiness assessment in adolescents and young adults with rheumatic diseases: The Singapore experience.

BACKGROUND: Transition from pediatric to adult care is a challenging time for adolescents and young adults (AYA) with rheumatic diseases. Validated tools have been developed to assess transition readiness. AIM: To evaluate transition readiness among AYA with rheumatic diseases and to identify factors associated with transition readiness. METHODS: Patients ≥15 years old were enrolled into our transition program and administered a Transition Readiness Assessment Tool (TRAT) from July 2017. The TRAT consists of 3 components: (a) patient's perception on importance of transition and confidence toward transition on a Likert scale 0-10; (b) assessment of knowledge on medical and healthcare usage using a set of 23 questions; (c) transition readiness using the Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ). Differences between groups were compared to identify factors associated with transition readiness. RESULTS: Transition readiness assessment was performed in 152 patients. The median score for perception on transition importance was 7.0 (5.0-8.8) and the median score for confidence in transition was 7.0 (5.0-9.0). Majority of the patients (>50%) lack knowledge in health insurance, carrying health information, healthcare privacy changes and making own healthcare decision. Patients <20 years old were also deficient in knowledge in navigating healthcare systems. TRAQ scores were lowest in areas pertaining to healthcare insurance and obtaining financial help. CONCLUSION: Healthcare insurance literacy and self-management skills were lacking in the assessment of transition readiness in AYA with rheumatic diseases. Targeted intervention in these areas will improve transition readiness and promote successful transition processes.