IFIT1 and rheumatoid arthritis: Furthermore, gene expression profiling of peripheral blood cells from healthy controls and RA patients in a Dutch study (30) revealed a significant up-regulation of IFN responsive genes in a subgroup of RA patients and six of these genes (IFIT1, OAS2, MX1, IFI44L, OAS1, and MX2) were also found in our dataset of top 65 AIRE regulated genes in FLS.