Scholars@Duke
Jeffrey Arthur Dvergsten

Jeffrey Arthur Dvergsten

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Pediatrics, Rheumatology

Selected Publications

Discovery of tissue-specific proteomic signatures in juvenile dermatomyositis highlights pathways reflecting persistent disease activity, clinical heterogeneity, and myositis-specific autoantibody subtype.

Journal Article Ann Rheum Dis · November 2025 OBJECTIVES: Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a heterogeneous autoimmune condition needing targeted treatment approaches and improved understanding of molecular mechanisms driving clinical phenotypes. We utilised exploratory proteomics from a longitudinal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unmasking inflammation in juvenile dermatomyositis: myokine profiles of patients and bioengineered human muscle.

Journal Article Front Immunol · 2025 INTRODUCTION: Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), a rare autoimmune disease characterized by a type I interferon (IFN) gene signature and muscle weakness, lacks robust biomarkers and disease models. Myokines-muscle-derived cytokines-are potential biomarkers an ... Full text Link to item Cite

Genetic changes from type I interferons and JAK inhibitors: clues to drivers of juvenile dermatomyositis.

Journal Article Rheumatology (Oxford) · September 1, 2024 OBJECTIVE: To better understand the pathogenesis of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), we examined the effect of the cytokines type I interferons (IFN I) and JAK inhibitor drugs (JAKi) on gene expression in bioengineered pediatric skeletal muscle. METHODS: My ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of type I interferon on engineered pediatric skeletal muscle: a promising model for juvenile dermatomyositis.

Journal Article Rheumatology (Oxford) · January 4, 2024 OBJECTIVE: To investigate pathogenic mechanisms underlying JDM, we defined the effect of type I IFN, IFN-α and IFN-β, on pediatric skeletal muscle function and expression of myositis-related proteins using an in vitro engineered human skeletal muscle model ... Full text Link to item Cite

Treatment of Rheumatic Diseases

Chapter · January 1, 2024 Full text Cite

Juvenile Dermatomyositis

Chapter · January 1, 2024 Full text Cite

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.

Journal Article Pediatr Rheumatol Online J · September 12, 2023 BACKGROUND: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been concerns regarding the risks of infection in patients with autoimmune disease. In this study, we investigated the impact of the pandemic on patients with juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopath ... Full text Link to item Cite

Calcinosis in juvenile dermatomyositis: Updates on pathogenesis and treatment.

Journal Article Front Med (Lausanne) · 2023 Calcinosis, or the deposition of insoluble calcium salts in the skin, subcutaneous tissue, fascia, tendons, and muscles, is a feared complication of juvenile dermatomyositis. Calcinosis is estimated to affect up to 40% of patients with juvenile dermatomyos ... Full text Link to item Cite

Gene Expression Profiles of Treatment Response and Non-Response in Children With Juvenile Dermatomyositis.

Journal Article ACR Open Rheumatol · August 2022 OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to identify differences in gene expression between treatment responders (TRs) and treatment non-responders (TNRs) diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). METHODS: Gene expression analyses were performed using whole ... Full text Link to item Cite

Metabolomics analysis identifies a lipidomic profile in treatment-naïve juvenile dermatomyositis patients vs healthy control subjects.

Journal Article Rheumatology (Oxford) · April 11, 2022 OBJECTIVES: To perform an exploratory study to identify a JDM serum metabolic profile that differs from healthy controls (HCs) and responds to immunosuppressive treatment. METHODS: Blood was collected from 9 HCs and 10 patients diagnosed with probable (n = ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimizing the Start Time of Biologics in Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Comparative Effectiveness Study of Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Consensus Treatment Plans.

Journal Article Arthritis Rheumatol · October 2021 OBJECTIVE: The optimal time to start biologics in polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) remains uncertain. The Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) developed 3 consensus treatment plans (CTPs) for untreated polyarticul ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pilot Study of the Juvenile Dermatomyositis Consensus Treatment Plans: A CARRA Registry Study.

Journal Article J Rheumatol · January 1, 2021 OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility of comparing the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology ResearchAlliance (CARRA) consensus treatment plans (CTP) in treating moderate new-onset juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) using the CARRA registry, and to establish ... Full text Link to item Cite

Management Considerations: Juvenile Dermatomyositis

Chapter · July 25, 2019 This comprehensive book serves as a guide in the day-to-day management of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), with a particular emphasis on adult dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM), juvenile dermatomyositis, ... ... Cite

Interferon Chemokine Score and Other Cytokine Measures Track With Changes in Disease Activity in Patients With Juvenile and Adult Dermatomyositis.

Conference ACR Open Rheumatol · April 2019 OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to identify cytokines and chemokines in patients with adult dermatomyositis (DM) and juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) that predict changes in disease activity. METHODS: Multiplexed immunoassays (Meso Scale Discovery) enabled simultaneo ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Path to Prediction of Outcomes in Juvenile Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathy.

Journal Article Front Immunol · 2019 Humans have an innate desire to observe and subsequently dissect an event into component pieces in an effort to better characterize the event. We then examine these pieces individually and in combinations using this information to determine the outcome of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Consensus Treatment Plans for Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis Refractory to Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs and/or With Active Spinal Lesions.

Journal Article Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) · August 2018 OBJECTIVE: To develop standardized treatment regimens for chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis (CNO), also known as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO), to enable comparative effectiveness treatment studies. METHODS: Virtual and face-to-face di ... Full text Link to item Cite

T Cell Receptor-Independent, CD31/IL-17A-Driven Inflammatory Axis Shapes Synovitis in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

Journal Article Front Immunol · 2018 T cells are considered autoimmune effectors in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), but the antigenic cause of arthritis remains elusive. Since T cells comprise a significant proportion of joint-infiltrating cells, we examined whether the environment in th ... Full text Link to item Cite

2016 ACR-EULAR adult dermatomyositis and polymyositis and juvenile dermatomyositis response criteria-methodological aspects.

Journal Article Rheumatology (Oxford) · November 1, 2017 OBJECTIVE: The objective was to describe the methodology used to develop new response criteria for adult DM/PM and JDM. METHODS: Patient profiles from prospective natural history data and clinical trials were rated by myositis specialists to develop consen ... Full text Link to item Cite

2016 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism Criteria for Minimal, Moderate, and Major Clinical Response in Juvenile Dermatomyositis: An International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group/Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation Collaborative Initiative.

Journal Article Arthritis Rheumatol · May 2017 OBJECTIVE: To develop response criteria for juvenile dermatomyositis (DM). METHODS: We analyzed the performance of 312 definitions that used core set measures from either the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS) or the Paedi ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Regulatory B Cell Compartment Expands Transiently During Childhood and Is Contracted in Children With Autoimmunity.

Journal Article Arthritis Rheumatol · January 2017 OBJECTIVE: Regulatory B cells that inhibit immune responses through interleukin-10 (IL-10) secretion (B10 cells) have been characterized in adult subjects with autoimmune disease. The aim of this study was to characterize B10 cells in individuals across th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparing Presenting Clinical Features in 48 Children With Microscopic Polyangiitis to 183 Children Who Have Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis (Wegener's): An ARChiVe Cohort Study.

Journal Article Arthritis Rheumatol · October 2016 OBJECTIVE: To uniquely classify children with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), to describe their demographic characteristics, presenting clinical features, and initial treatments in comparison to patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (G ... Full text Link to item Cite

Progress and prognosis in juvenile dermatomyositis

Journal Article International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology · January 1, 2014 With the advent of corticosteroids as a treatment option for autoimmune disease in the early 1960s, the course of juvenile dermatomyositis was altered from one of high mortality to one with various degrees of morbidity. Prior to treatment with corticostero ... Full text Cite

Premature cell senescence and T cell receptor-independent activation of CD8+ T cells in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Journal Article Arthritis Rheum · August 2013 OBJECTIVE: CD8+ T cells lacking CD28 were originally reported to be a characteristic feature of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), but the relevance of these unusual cells to this disease remains to be elucidated. Because of recent evidence that loss of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Expansions of NK-like αβT cells with chronologic aging: novel lymphocyte effectors that compensate for functional deficits of conventional NK cells and T cells.

Journal Article Ageing Res Rev · July 2011 As the repertoire of αβT cell receptors (TCR) contracts with advancing age, there is an associated age-dependent accumulation of oligoclonal T cells expressing of a variety of receptors (NKR), normally expressed on natural killer (NK) cells. Evidences for ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clusterin promotes the aggregation and adhesion of renal porcine epithelial cells.

Journal Article J Clin Invest · December 1995 The function of clusterin, a heterodimeric glycoprotein markedly induced in renal and other organ injuries, is unclear. Since renal injury is accompanied by alterations in cell attachment, it is possible that clusterin functions to promote cell-cell and ce ... Full text Link to item Cite

Induction of clusterin in acute and chronic oxidative renal disease in the rat and its dissociation from cell injury.

Journal Article Lab Invest · August 1994 BACKGROUND: Clusterin is a glycoprotein incriminated in diverse biologic processes including complement regulation, cell death, and tissue remodelling. Induction of clusterin occurs in renal and other tissue injuries. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The purpose of th ... Link to item Cite

Expression of clusterin in human renal diseases.

Journal Article Kidney Int · March 1994 Clusterin, a glycoprotein with potent cohesive properties, is induced in a wide variety of acute and chronic experimental renal diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine clusterin expression in human renal diseases. Clusterin immunostaining was ex ... Full text Link to item Cite