LGALS9 and rheumatoid arthritis: As shown in Fig. 6a, RA patients with advanced articular lesions (stage II–IV) had significantly higher levels of circulating Gal-9 compared to those without advanced articular lesions (stage I) (8790 pg/ml [IQR 5631–10,953] versus 7103 pg/ml [IQR 5882–8810], p = 0.023).