Considering RA at onset, before any DMARDs treatment, we found that overweight/obese RA showed higher rate of follicular synovitis and higher IHC scores for resident synovial inflammatory cells (i.e. CD68+, CD21+ and CD20+) compared to normal weight ones, with a direct correlation between BMI value and IHC scores for resident inflammatory cells suggesting a tight link between body weight and degree of ST inflammation at RA onset. The gene discussed is CD68; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.