USE OF MULTIPARAMETER ANALYSIS OF LABORATORY BIOMARKERS TO ASSESS RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS ACTIVITY

Abstract

The key component in the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is regular control of RA activity. The quantitative assessment of a patient’s status allows the development of standardized indications for anti-rheumatic therapy. Objective: to identify the laboratory biomarkers able to reflect RA activity. Subjects and methods. Fifty-eight patients with RA and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy donors were examined. The patients were divided into high/moderate and mild disease activity groups according to DAS28. The serum concentrations of 30 biomarkers were measured using immunonephelometric assay, enzyme immunoassay, and xMAP technology. Results and discussion . Multivariate analysis could identify the factors mostly related to high/moderate RA activity according to DAS28, such as fibroblast growth factor-2, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukins (IL) 1α, 6, and 15, and tumor necrosis factor-α and could create a prognostic model for RA activity assessment. ROC analysis has shown that this model has excellent diagnostic efficiency in differentiating high/moderate versus low RA activity. Conclusion. To create a subjective assessment-independent immunological multiparameter index of greater diagnostic accuracy than the laboratory parameters routinely used in clinical practice may be a qualitatively new step in assessing and monitoring RA activity.