Type I interferon and cycling lymphocytes in macrophage activation syndrome

We performed immune profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Still's disease and macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) using bulk RNA sequencing and single-cell RNA sequencing. Three groups were included in the study: healthy controls, patients with Still's disease without macrophage activation syndrome, and patients with Still's disease and macrophage activation syndrome. We found that macrophage activation syndrome is associated with transcriptomic signatures of interferon upregulation and cell cycling. We identified cycling lymphocytes within T cell and NK cell populations that are correlated with MAS disease activity. All sequencing data are available through dbGaP.