Evaluation of Some Immunological Marker for Early Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic,destructive autoimmune disease affecting the joints. With more sophisticated and effective therapies becoming available and with the understanding that early intervention is crucial in preventing irreversible joint damage,it is more and more important to diagnose RA at a very early stage in the disease. To facilitate diagnosis during the early stages of the disease,when often not all clinical symptoms are manifest,a good serological marker is needed. The main purpose of this observational study was to evaluate and detects a good serological marker and genetic factors may be used in early detection of RA. This study covers quite different regions of Najaf province,including rural and urban communities. During the period from May 2010 to May2011,a total of 40 patients with RA who were fulfilled four or more of the 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR),20 patients with joints problems (JP),20 RA patient relatives (PR) and 10 apparently healthy control individuals were included in this study. Cytokines (interleukin-1,IL-6,IL-10 and TNF ɑ),antibodies directed to cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP3),and anti-human immunoglobulin binding protein (anti-BiP) antibodies in the human serum samples were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Thirty-two RA patients (80.0%) were positive for anti-CCP3,whereas only 20.0%,30.0% and 0.0% showed a positive reaction,in particular sera from PR,JP and healthy control,respectively with highly significant difference was observed. The mean serum anti-CCP3 antibody level was higher in RA patients than in other groups. The anti-BiP antibody levels were significantly increased in RA patients than in PR and healthy control. However,the levels of anti-BiP antibody were slightly increased in the JP and no significant difference was detected between RA patients and JP. Analysis of the serum samples showed that concentrations of the Proinflammatory cytokines,IL-1,IL-6 and TNFɑ were significantly increased in RA patients compared with matched control subjects. While,The level of IL-10 was significantly lower for RA patients than for healthy Control cases.