#5-100E. Two Diseases in One: Single-Cell Profiling Defines Immunologic Subtypes in Sjögren's Disease (Arthritis Rheumatol, 2026)

How can clinicians better stratify heterogeneous Sjögren's disease to deliver targeted therapies? This single-cell transcriptomic study of peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrates that Sjögren's disease comprises two distinct immunologic endotypes defined by anti-SSA antibody status. Anti-SSA-positive patients exhibit a dominant type I interferon signature and a four-fold expansion of transitional B cells with altered developmental states and reduced BCR diversity, whereas anti-SSA-negative patients resemble symptomatic controls. Although limited by the lack of functional mechanistic experiments, these findings provide a strong rationale for anti-SSA-guided patient stratification and biomarker-driven precision treatments in clinical practice.

Citation: Urbanski G, Taylor KE, Flynn E, Norouzi A, Chu C, Davidson B, Ghosh A, Nititham J, Patel RK, Poon AW, Fragiadakis GK, Combes AJ, Eckalbar WL, Criswell LA, Ye CJ, Shiboski CH. Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Peripheral Blood Defines Two Immunologic Subtypes of Sjögren's Disease Distinguished by Anti-SSA Antibodies and Aberrant B Cell Populations. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2026.

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