Journal of Inflammation Research (Feb 2022)
Association of Growth and Differentiation Factor 15 in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Abstract
Yan-Wei He,1 Cheng-Song He2 1Department of Orthopaedics, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cheng-Song He, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: 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.Patients and Methods: 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.Results: 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.Conclusion: 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.Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, growth and differentiation factor 15, polymorphism, pathogenesis
