LAY SUMMARY MYOSITIS CANADA – February 2, 2024     

 

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is currently classified as an autoinflammatory muscle (AIM) disorder, but it is different because, unlike other AIM, it typically appears in older men and does not respond to usual medications. It is also challenging to diagnose as many patients have unnecessary tests, including biopsies and procedures, as well as side effects from medications and severe muscle weakness and disability.

 

The goal of SOAR (Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis NOvel Autoantibody and Biomarker Research) was to perform over 20 types of blood tests in a large group of patients with sIBM and compare the results to patients with other types of AIM to determine whether they are helpful in the diagnosis, prognosis and predicting outcomes. In turn, the information will help us better understand what causes sIBM, use an evidence-based approach to treat it, and monitor response to therapy. As we generated a large amount of data, we used artificial intelligence (AI) to help interpret the results of the study.

 

We are grateful for the funding we received from Myositis Canada in 2021 to conduct this study. Through SOAR, we have made several important findings. In our comprehensive testing of autoantibodies including novel biomarkers that have never been tested in sIBM, we found that the frequency of seronegative gap (patients with no autoantibodies) decreased. However, further work to identify even more biomarkers is needed as some patients remained negative. We also revealed that sIBM can be differentiated from other types of myositis using artificial intelligence algorithms to identify unique patient subtypes based on established and novel myositis autoantibodies.

 

These findings have been published as abstracts and shared with other researchers around the world at six major rheumatology conferences, including the Canadian Rheumatology Association Meeting and the American College of Rheumatology Conference. These were presented by our trainees, ranging from undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels who were involved at all stages of the project. Our rheumatology fellow, Dr. Eugene Krustev, will be undergoing additional clinical and research training in myositis at John Hopkins next year. He plans to come back to Calgary to start a myositis clinic and continue to work on myositis-related projects with Dr. Choi.

 

As a result of this work, we have further developed our research ideas and initiated several new projects. We were recently awarded the Arthritis Society Stars Career Development Award ($375,000) in January 2024 for our new ideas that were built utilizing the pilot data that were generated from SOAR. We have secured an additional $32,000 in peer-reviewed funding (McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health and the University of Calgary). These projects will involve creating a new myositis research registry in Alberta providing opportunities for patients with all types of myositis to participate in research and potentially clinical trials in the future.

 

We want to thank the patients, our collaborators including the Canadian Inflammatory Myopathy Study and Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky and his patients with sIBM, as well as Myositis Canada for their support. Our achievements would not have been possible without their involvement!