Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often involves an altered T-cell subpopulation, higher levels of inflammatory cytokines, and auto-antibodies. This study investigated whether PDCD5 could be a biomarker to predict the incidence and remission of RA so as to guide the therapeutic management of clinical RA. METHODS: One hundred fifty-two patients (41 being in both active status and stable remission status) who were newly diagnosed with RA and 38 healthy controls were enrolled. Basic clinical data were collected before using blood samples remaining in the clinic after routine complete blood count. The ability of PDCD5 and important indicators to predict the remission of RA was estimated based on receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. RESULTS: PDCD5 expression was found to be significantly increased in RA patients in active status in comparison with healthy controls or those in stable remission status. Compared with anti-CCP, ESR and DAS28 score, PDCD5 was of better predictive value with an AUC of 0.846 (95% CI 0.780-0.912) for RA remission. The incidence risk of RA increased with higher levels of PDCD5 (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.45-1.98, P = 0.005) in multiple logistic regression analysis, with the risk increasing by 2.94-times for high-risk group in comparison with low-risk group (OR = 2.94, 95% CI = 2.35-4.62, P < 0.001). The association between PDCD5 and RA remission showed a similar result. For correlation analysis, significant associations were eventually found between PDCD5 and indicated genes (FOXP3, TNF-α, IL-17A, IFN-γ and IL-6) as well as several important clinical parameters including IgG, RF, CRP, ESR, anti-CCP and DAS28 score. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that increased PDCD5 expression was significantly linked to the incidence and remission of RA. PDCD5 may be used as a novel biomarker for the prediction of RA incidence and remission, especially due to its potential involvement in the development of the condition.