Investigation of Early Growth Response Protein (EGR) Levels in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia is a soft tissue rheumatism characterized by chronic and widespread musculoskeletal pain at specific points in the body. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between Early Growth Response (EGR1, EGR2, and EGR3) protein levels in patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) and healthy controls. METHODS: In our studies, 76 FMS patient group and 78 healthy control group who were newly diagnosed with primary FMS according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology criteria for fibromyalgia in Sivas Cumhuriyet University Hospital, Physical Therapy, and Rehabilitation were used. Venous blood samples were taken from both groups for the measurement of EGR1, EGR2, and EGR3 protein plasma levels, and protein levels were determined using ELISA methods. Statistical parametric test assumptions were compared using the Independent Student's t-test. In addition, specificity, sensitivity, and AUC values were calculated with the ROC curve. RESULTS: The relationship between plasma EGR1 protein levels of FMS patients and control groups was statistically significant (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: EGR1 protein levels were found to be lower in the patient group diagnosed with FMS compared to the control group. It has been suggested that EGR1 protein levels can be important in the diagnosis of FMS disease.

Expression and prognostic analyses of early growth response proteins (EGRs) in human breast carcinoma based on database analysis.

BACKGROUND: Early growth response proteins (EGRs), as a transcriptional regulatory family, are involved in the process of cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and even carcinogenesis. However, the role of EGRs in tumors, their expression levels, and their prognostic value remain unclear. METHODS: Using the Oncomine database, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, bcGenExMiner v4.2, cBioPortal, and other tools, the association between the survival data of breast carcinoma (BC) patients and transcriptional levels of four EGRs was investigated. RESULTS: According to the Oncomine database, in comparison to normal tissues, the expression level of EGR2/3 mRNA in BC tissues was decreased, but there was no difference in the expression level of EGR4 mRNA. On the basis of the Scarff-Bloom-Richardson (SBR) grading system, the downregulated expression level of EGR1/2/3 and upregulated expression level of EGR4 were correlated with an increased histological differentiation level, with significant differences (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier curves suggest that a reduction in EGR2/3 mRNA expression is related to recurrence-free survival (RFS) in BC patients. In addition, the mRNA expression level of EGR1/2/3 was related to metastatic relapse-free survival (MRFS) in BC patients with metastatic recurrence (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: EGR1/2/3 can be utilized as an important factor for evaluating prognosis and may be relevant to diagnosis. EGR4 may play a role in the occurrence and development of BC. The specific function and mechanism of EGRs in BC deserve further study.