ACR 2022 Tweet by Dr. Antoni Chan

Obesity in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is not a minor comorbidity. Beyond the scale, there are several factors that need to be considered with obesity in axSpA.

HLA-B27 remains the dominant genetic link to spondyloarthritis (SpA) across the age spectrum, but B27 related clinical expression diverges between children and adults. New mechanistic data on autoreactive T cells, HLA-B27 misfolding, and gut-joint trafficking point to new plausible, targetable pathways.

An editorial in Lancet Rheumatology calls for "..reframing axSpA as a systemic, autoimmune inflammatory disease with multiorgan involvement and substantial unmet need."The pathogenesis relies on not only HLA-B27, but also on environmental triggers, immune dysregulation, and gut inflammation. AxSpA…