Ormseth MJ, Wu O, Zhao S, et al. - This study was undertaken to ascertain whether plasma microbial small RNAs (sRNAs) are altered in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in comparison with control individuals, correlated with RA disease-related features, and altered by disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Researchers conducted sRNA sequencing on plasma from 165 individuals with RA and 90 matched controls and a separate cohort of 70 patients with RA before and after starting a DMARD. The data exhibited that plasma microbial sRNA composition is altered in RA vs control individuals and correlated with some measures of RA disease activity. The results of this study indicate that DMARD treatment does not alter microbial sRNA abundance or composition, but the elevated abundance of microbial sRNAs at baseline was correlated with disease activity improvement at 6 months.