This Research Topic is the third volume of the “Prognostic and Predictive Factors in Autoimmune Connective Tissue Disorders” Community Series. Please see Volume II

here.

Autoimmune connective tissue diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic sclerosis, dermatomyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, and mixed connective tissue diseases are complex conditions that commonly involve multiple organs and systems. The pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases is elusive, and the disease course is extremely variable, with indolent or rapidly progressive case subsets. The heterogeneity and patient-to-patient variability of autoimmune connective tissue disease extend to their clinical manifestations, autoantibody profiles, speed of disease progression, the constellation of target organ effects, response to treatment, and survival. Despite the significant advances in diagnosis and treatment achieved in the last decades, due to a relative lack of biomarkers and prognostic indicators, it is still difficult to predict disease progression and prevent the development of severe and life-threatening disease manifestations. In addition, recently, there has been a shift in patient treatment, from treating patients after contracting diseases to personalized medicine, in which diseases are prevented and treated according to individual variability in genes, phenotypical features, environment, and lifestyle for each group of patients. For this reason, this Research Topic aims to promote a greater understanding of the prognostic and predictive factors in connective tissue diseases to predict long-term outcomes and improve the use of tailored treatments.

The goal of this Research Topic is to promote the latest advances in the field of immunology and rheumatology and how this links to novel risk factors and stratification. This collection will help predict more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies will work in managing patients with autoimmune connective tissue diseases, highlighting the possible beneficial effects of optimizing risk factors and treatment choices. Indeed, this project will be particularly useful for planning new intervention strategies for patients with autoimmune connective tissue disease within a multi-specialist and multiparametric approach. Secondly, this Research topic will provide further insights into the association between clinical phenotypes and laboratory parameters to identify novel serological biomarkers of disease severity and systemic involvement in patients affected by autoimmune connective tissue diseases. In addition, collecting the latest findings about biomarkers and other predictive factors in autoimmune connective tissue disease could be a valid connecting point for both physicians and researchers working across basic, translational, and clinical immunology.

We encourage the submission of original research, brief research reports, and review papers focusing on identifying novel biomarkers and techniques as prognostic and predictive factors to improve the personalized medicine approach and provide broader insight into the pathogenesis and features in autoimmune connective tissue disorders.

We welcome manuscripts that cover, but are not limited to, the following sub-topics:

• Novel serological biomarkers of disease severity in autoimmune connective tissue diseases.

• Novel biomarkers of response to therapy in autoimmune connective tissue diseases.

• Recent applications of routinary laboratory parameters and instrumental techniques for assessing disease severity and systemic (e.g., cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological) involvement in autoimmune diseases.

• Evaluation of gene expression, protein levels of inflammatory mediators, adhesion proteins, cytokines, and pro-resolving molecules in autoimmune connective tissue diseases.

• Inflammation and altered immune homeostasis in autoimmune diseases.

• Epidemiological studies to identify risk factors associated with a severe disease in autoimmune disorders.

• Development of a new multi-parametrical disease activity score for autoimmune diseases.

Topic Editor Dr. Mohammed Osman has an unrestricted research grant from Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and has done advisory boards for BI and for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals in the last 2 years; The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests concerning the Research Topic subject.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Community Series in Prognostic and Predictive Factors in Autoimmune Connective Tissue Disorders Volume III