Department of Evidence-Based Medicine, School of Public Health, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
Int J Rheum Dis. 2019 Jun;22(6):1123-1129. doi: 10.1111/1756-185X.13539. Epub 2019 Mar 6.
This study aims to discuss plasma and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of interleukin (IL)-37 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and evaluate the potential of plasma IL-37 as a biomarker for RA.
Plasma IL-37 levels and IL-37 mRNA relative concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We discussed the association of IL-37 levels and clinical, laboratory parameters in RA patients in a training cohort. Plasma IL-37 levels were tested for discriminatory capacity by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. We then validated plasma IL-37 expression in a cohort of 598 patients (230 RA, 107 systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], 100 osteoarthritis [OA], 62 gout, 51 primary Sjögren's syndrome [pSS], 48 ankylosing spondylitis [AS]).
Both plasma levels of IL-37 and mRNA levels of IL-37 were elevated in RA patients compared to those in healthy controls in the training cohort, and there was a good diagnostic ability to predict RA (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.97). Plasma IL-37 levels were significantly related to Disease Activity Score of 28 joints - erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) (r = 0.459, P < 0.001). The levels of IL-37 mRNA were related to plasma IL-37 levels (r = 0.642, P < 0.001), DAS28-ESR (r = 0.641, P < 0.001) and C-reactive protein (r = 0.603, P < 0.001). In the validation cohort, when plasma IL-37 in RA patients compared with that in SLE, OA, gout, pSS and AS patients, the AUC was 0.86, 0.87, 0.91, 0.87, 0.92, respectively.
IL-37 expression was increased in RA patients, and correlated with disease activity. IL-37 may be a biomarker for the diagnosis of RA.
本研究旨在探讨白细胞介素（IL）-37在类风湿关节炎（RA）患者中的血浆和信使 RNA（mRNA）水平，并评估血浆 IL-37 作为 RA 生物标志物的潜力。
采用酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）和定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）测定血浆 IL-37 水平和 IL-37mRNA 相对浓度。我们在训练队列中讨论了 RA 患者中 IL-37 水平与临床、实验室参数的相关性。通过接收者操作特征（ROC）曲线分析检验血浆 IL-37 水平的判别能力。然后，我们在 598 例患者（230 例 RA、107 例系统性红斑狼疮 [SLE]、100 例骨关节炎 [OA]、62 例痛风、51 例原发性干燥综合征 [pSS]、48 例强直性脊柱炎 [AS]）中验证了血浆 IL-37 表达。
与健康对照组相比，训练队列中 RA 患者的血浆 IL-37 水平和 IL-37mRNA 水平均升高，对 RA 具有良好的诊断能力（曲线下面积 [AUC] = 0.97）。血浆 IL-37 水平与 28 关节疾病活动评分-红细胞沉降率（DAS28-ESR）显著相关（r = 0.459，P < 0.001）。IL-37mRNA 水平与血浆 IL-37 水平（r = 0.642，P < 0.001）、DAS28-ESR（r = 0.641，P < 0.001）和 C 反应蛋白（r = 0.603，P < 0.001）相关。在验证队列中，当比较 RA 患者与 SLE、OA、痛风、pSS 和 AS 患者的血浆 IL-37 时，AUC 分别为 0.86、0.87、0.91、0.87 和 0.92。
RA 患者的 IL-37 表达增加，并与疾病活动相关。IL-37 可能是 RA 诊断的生物标志物。
