He Yan-Wei, He Cheng-Song
Department of Orthopaedics, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People's Republic of China.
Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People's Republic of China.
J Inflamm Res. 2022 Feb 19;15:1173-1181. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S350281. eCollection 2022.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory rheumatic disease, which has been demonstrated to correlate with mutated genetics. Growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily and is expressed in different organs, tissues and immune cells. To date, limited studies have evaluated plasma levels of GDF-15 in RA patients, and whether GDF-15 gene polymorphisms correlate with RA risk in the Chinese Han population has not been clarified.
This case-control study recruited 910 age- and sex-matched RA patients and healthy controls. Plasma levels of GDF-15 were examined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, and polymorphisms (rs1055150, rs1058587, rs3787023, and rs4808793) were genotyped by KASP method.
RA patients had higher levels of GDF-15 as compared to that in healthy controls. Patients with positive CRP also showed higher levels of GDF-15 when compared to that in patients with negative CRP. Levels of GDF-15 correlated with disease activity score. Frequencies of GG, GC, GG+GC genotypes and G allele in GDF-15 gene rs1058587 were significantly elevated in RA patients compared to controls. Frequencies of CC genotype and C allele in GDF-15 gene rs3787023 were higher in RA patients compared to controls. Other polymorphisms did not correlate with RA susceptibility. Moreover, the four polymorphisms were not correlated with levels of GDF-15.
Plasma levels of GDF-15 were elevated in RA patients and GDF-15 gene polymorphisms were related to RA risk in the Chinese Han population.
类风湿关节炎（RA）是一种炎症性风湿性疾病，已被证明与基因突变相关。生长分化因子15（GDF - 15）是转化生长因子-β超家族的成员，在不同器官、组织和免疫细胞中表达。迄今为止，对RA患者血浆中GDF - 15水平的评估研究有限，且GDF - 15基因多态性与中国汉族人群RA风险的相关性尚未明确。
本病例对照研究招募了910名年龄和性别匹配的RA患者及健康对照。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法检测血浆中GDF - 15水平，并通过KASP方法对多态性（rs1055150、rs1058587、rs3787023和rs4808793）进行基因分型。
与健康对照相比，RA患者的GDF - 15水平更高。CRP阳性的患者与CRP阴性的患者相比，GDF - 15水平也更高。GDF - 15水平与疾病活动评分相关。与对照组相比，RA患者中GDF - 15基因rs1058587的GG、GC、GG + GC基因型及G等位基因频率显著升高。与对照组相比，RA患者中GDF - 15基因rs3787023的CC基因型及C等位基因频率更高。其他多态性与RA易感性无关。此外，这四种多态性与GDF - 15水平无关。
RA患者血浆中GDF - 15水平升高，且GDF - 15基因多态性与中国汉族人群的RA风险相关。
