From June 12 to 15, 2024, the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) 2024 Congress was held in Vienna, Austria. The rheumatology team of PUMCH delivered 5 oral presentations and 2 poster tours, making the voice of Chinese scholars heard on the international academic stage. Doctors Zhao Yuan, Cai Bin, Xu Shihan, and Zhang Menghao all received the 2024 EULAR travel bursaries.

▲Group photo of PUMCH team attending the congress

For rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with inadequate response to traditional therapies, Associate Chief Physician Liu Jinjing, on behalf of a team led by Chief Physician Zeng Xiaofeng from 59 research centers nationwide, reported the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial of the domestically developed original drug SHR0302. For active RA patients with inadequate response to traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, this medication demonstrated safety and efficacy.

EULAR and ACR (American College of Rheumatology) jointly released new antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) classification criteria in 2023. Soon after that, the team, guided by Director Li Mengtao and Deputy Director Zhao Jiuliang, comprehensively evaluated the new classification criteria based on their departmental APS cohort, validating its effectiveness. Dr. Zhao Yuan reported this on behalf of the team and received the 2024 “EULAR Abstract Award Undergraduate”, an honor bestowed upon only two individuals this year. Dr. Cai Bin, on behalf of the team, reported research findings showing that elevated serum remnant cholesterol levels in Chinese APS patients are closely associated with the risk of recurrent thrombosis, proposing remnant cholesterol as a novel metabolic biomarker and an important risk factor for recurrent thrombosis in APS patients. This study provides new theoretical insights for individualized assessment, early identification, and intervention of thrombotic events in APS patients.

▲Dr. Zhao Yuan (second from right) received the 2024 EULAR Abstract Award Undergraduate

Dr. Xu Shihan, representing Chief Physician Xu Dong’s team, reported research findings on imaging evaluations of SSc (Systemic Sclerosis) patients without neurological symptoms. The team discovered that patients’ brain white matter distribution differed significantly from that of healthy controls, with over half of the patients experiencing depression or depressive states. The study suggests that the impact of SSc on the central nervous system may precede clinical symptoms and warrant attention and identification as early as possible.

Dr. Zhang Menghao, representing Chief Physician Zheng Wenjie’s team, reported abnormally elevated levels of the metabolite farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) in Beh?et’s disease (BD) patients, which closely correlates with BD inflammatory activity. They suggested FPP as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target. Statistical analysis indicated that three months after treating parenchymal neuro-Beh?et’s syndrome with infliximab, patients showed significant clinical and imaging improvements.

Chief Physician Chen Hua’s team first elucidated the immunoregulatory function of plasma extracellular vesicles in primary Sj?gren’s syndrome (pSS) patients. They proposed a new mechanism for the abnormal activation of follicular helper T cells in pSS, highlighting the potential of extracellular vesicles as a biomarker and therapeutic target for pSS.

Written and photographed by the Department of Rheumatology

Translated by Liu Haiyan

Reviewed by Jiang Nan and Wang Yao