Expression and significance of TNFSF12/TWEAK, CD163 in monocytes of patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis.

AIM: A retrospective study was designed to compare the expression levels of TNF superfamily member 12 (TNFSF12), which encodes the protein TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK), and CD163 in peripheral blood monocytes between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and controls, and to correlate their expression with clinical parameters to investigate their potential association with RA.

MATERIALS &

METHODS

RT-qPCR method was used to determine gene expression of TNFSF12 and CD163 in patients with RA, ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and healthy controls (HC). ROC curve, Pearson correlation analysis, and western blot were used to access the diagnostic performance of TNFSF12/TWEAK and CD163, analyze their correlation with other clinical parameters in RA, and evaluate the protein expression of TWEAK and CD163 in RA.

RESULTS

TNFSF12 and CD163 in RA patients were higher expressed compared with AS and HC; they were helpful to identify RA patients from controls, with area under ROC curve (AUC) being 0.813 and 0.826, respectively, and correlated with ESR and CRP. TWEAK and CD163 in monocytes from RA were significantly upregulated compared with controls.

CONCLUSION

TNFSF12 and CD163 gene higher expressed in RA patients and related with therapeutic response and inflammation status, can be used as reference index for RA diagnosis and disease monitoring.