Teitsma XM, et al. - Researchers conducted this study to identify metabolic pathways important for achieving sustained drug-free remission (sDFR) in patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They studied the complex interactions between different components of the biological system and how these interactions might affect the therapeutic response in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Findings revealed an association of several metabolites with achieving sDFR in patients with early RA treated-to-target with a tocilizumab- or methotrexate-based strategy. By analyzing relevant transcripts and proteins within the same patients, they found that the metabolic profiles were different between strategy arms. Study results supported the premise that sDFR is not only dependent on predisposing biomarkers, but also on the specific initiated treatment.