Sanguine Connections: Rheumatoid Arthritis – Understanding the Increased Prevalence through Biospecimen and Data

Welcome to Sanguine Connections, exploring the process, challenges, and nuances of biospecimen procurement for translational studies.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Understanding the Increased Prevalence Through Biospecimen and Data

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) affects millions of people worldwide. Its symptoms often cause significant emotional and physical distress, and many people with RA see their quality of life decline due to chronic pain and fatigue, which can make it hard to work and manage daily life. Understanding RA means looking beyond symptoms to its full impact, including the social and financial toll on patients and their families. Collecting Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen is a key part of that work — it gives researchers the vital information needed to tailor treatments to individual patients, spot patterns in disease progression, and guide future research.

Why Biospecimens Matter for RA Research

• Genetics: Analysis of Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen has revealed new insights into the genetics of the disease, including markers linked to severity and risk.
• Treatment response: Findings from these samples are helping researchers understand why some patients respond differently to treatment than others.
• New therapies: Biologic drugs that target specific parts of the immune system rely on Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen for development, offering hope to patients who don’t respond to traditional therapies.
• Disease mechanisms: Researchers are studying the role of cytokines in RA’s inflammatory process, aiming for more effective treatments with fewer side effects.

Rising Prevalence and What’s Driving It

Autoimmune diseases are becoming more common every year [1]. Over 100 disorders are classified as autoimmune diseases, including Rheumatoid Arthritis — a chronic inflammatory disease that causes joint pain, swelling, and stiffness [1,2]. RA prevalence has climbed 14% since 1990, and case numbers are expected to keep rising [2], which makes Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen increasingly valuable for research aimed at understanding the disease.

As RA case numbers grow, researchers have more opportunity to fine-tune current treatments and find targets for new ones using Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen. Scientists are examining genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors behind RA’s rapid rise [3]. They’ve identified genetic markers tied to disease severity and risk, and found connections between RA and the body’s microbiome [4]. Natural history studies are also helping distinguish how symptoms and disease progression differ by age [4].

Understanding the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors behind RA is critical to solving the disease’s remaining mysteries. That means collecting data about RA donors themselves, alongside their samples, through Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen.

What Comes With Every Sanguine RA Biospecimen

EMRs

PROs, Surveys, Questionnaires

Sanguine empowers people diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis to take part in research through our direct-to-donor model. We collect samples in the donor’s home, which lowers the burden on donors and removes geographic barriers, so a broader range of RA donors can take part. This direct-to-donor approach also makes it easier to collect donor data alongside biospecimens — running surveys, PROs, and questionnaires, and pulling data from the donor’s electronic medical records (EMR). Our diverse RA Donor Community of 2,500 individuals, combined with rich donor data, supports more stringent inclusion/exclusion criteria, from tender joint count to specific treatment regimens to smoking status.

Sanguine’s Rheumatoid Arthritis Donor Community

• 2,500+ donors
• 1,000+ collections
• 70+ studies

By analyzing Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen, scientists are building a clearer picture of how the disease progresses, which helps pave the way for better management strategies. Efforts to collect and analyze this data are essential to ongoing RA research and to developing future therapies. By giving researchers access to donor data alongside matching biospecimens, Sanguine helps accelerate RA research into its biological and environmental causes — work that leads to better treatments and better outcomes for everyone diagnosed with RA.

To learn more about Sanguine’s contributions to RA research, explore our RA Condition Highlights page.

Living With RA: Community and Care

Community support plays a crucial role in managing Rheumatoid Arthritis. Support groups give people a place to share experiences, coping strategies, and emotional support, which helps ease isolation and builds a sense of community among those affected. Patient engagement in research matters too: when patients share their experiences and outcomes, they give researchers and healthcare providers valuable insight, and participating in clinical trials can offer access to cutting-edge therapies while advancing the broader understanding of RA.

Psychosocial factors also shape how well people manage RA. Stress, anxiety, and depression can worsen symptoms and reduce how well treatments work, so comprehensive care that includes mental health support is essential. Programs focused on physical activity, nutrition, and mental well-being — especially when combined with insights from Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen — can meaningfully improve quality of life.

Cost is another major factor: RA treatment can be financially overwhelming, with medications, therapies, and regular doctor visits adding up. Studies using Rheumatoid Arthritis biospecimen show the average annual cost of RA treatment can exceed tens of thousands of dollars, a real challenge for many families.

References

[1] Murray, M. (2024). A Major Health Crisis: The Alarming Rise of Autoimmune Disease. National Health Council. 2025, https://nationalhealthcouncil.org/blog/a-major-health-crisis-the-alarming-rise-of-autoimmune-disease/ 

[2] GBD 2021 Rheumatoid Arthritis Collaborators (2023). Global, regional, and national burden of rheumatoid arthritis, 1990-2020, and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet. Rheumatology, 5(10), e594–e610. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00211-4

[3] Miller F. W. (2023). The increasing prevalence of autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases: an urgent call to action for improved understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Current opinion in immunology, 80, 102266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coi.2022.102266

[4] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022, November). Rheumatoid Arthritis: Research & Resources. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/rheumatoid-arthritis/more-info

By: Alyssa Cook

Product Marketing at Sanguine