Although no clinical effect (mRSS including the local skin score on each forearm at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment) was observed over the study period, repeated skin biopsies demonstrated a weak downregulation of THBS1 and COMP and an upregulation of two clusters of genes in subcutaneous fat cells that negatively correlate with the severity of skin involvement in SSc. Here, COMP is linked to systemic sclerosis.