In an earlier study, a small group of spondyloarthritis patients was treated with a biological quickly after diagnosis. This study yielded positive results and even lead to disease remission in some patients.

Unfortunately not all patients showed a positive response to the new therapy regimen. The SPARTACUS study was set up to investigate how long after diagnosis (6 to 12 months) this new treatment regimen can be started to guarantee a better outcome and whether results in larger groups of patients are also positive.

In the SPARTACUS trial, samples will be collected from patients suffering from chronic rheumatic conditions, with (chronic) inflammation of the joints such as the pelvis or cervical column or of peripheral joints such as hips, knees and tendons.

Inflamed joint samples will be investigated using single-cell RNA sequencing to determine which factors contribute to therapy response. As such, the consortium aims to determine whether it is possible to stratify patients into responders that will benefit from early biological therapy intervention and non-responders.