Expression Level of CCP/AST in Synovial Fluid and Synovial Tissue of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients and Its Clinical Significance / 现代检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expression level and clinical significance of cyclic citrullinated peptide antigen-specific T cells(CCP/AST)in synovial fluid and synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis(RA)patients.Methods A total of 128 RA patients in Shijiazhuang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January to December 2021 were selected as the RA group,and 50 patients who needed arthroscopy for joint pain in the hospital during the same period were selected as the control group.Among the RA group,there were 46 cases in the mild group,52 cases in the moderate group,and 30 cases in the severe group.The protein expression levels of rheumatoid factors(RF)and anticitrullinated protein antibodies(ACPA)in synovial tissues of the subjects in each group were analyzed by Western blot.The frequency of CCP/AST in the synovial fluid of the subjects was analyzed by flow cytometry.The intensity of the staining of CCP/AST in synovial tissues was observed by double immunofluorescence staining/laser confocal scanning.Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between the CCP/AST expression of synovial fluid and synovial tissue and RF and ACPA.Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for the development of rheumatoid arthritis.Results In the order of control,mild,moderate and severe groups,RF(1.01±0.01,1.53±0.03,2.01±0.08,2.66±0.12 kDa)and ACPA proteins(1.03±0.01,1.61±0.03,2.04±0.10,2.59±0.13 kDa)in synovial tissues of patients were sequentially elevated,and the differences were all statistically significant(F=14.207,12.446,all P＜0.05).The expression of CCP/AST in synovial fluid of patients in the control,mild,moderate and severe groups was increased sequentially(8.26%±1.68%,22.46%±3.28%,33.58%±4.37%,46.15%±5.44%),and the difference was statistically significant(F=25.306,P＜0.05).Meanwhile,the intensity of CCP/AST staining in synovial tissues of patients in the control,mild,moderate and severe groups was also increased sequentially(1.05±0.26,1.35±0.89,2.04±0.56,2.78±0.15 score),and the difference was statistically significant(F=70.67,P＜0.05).The expression of CCP/AST in the synovial fluid and synovial tissues of patients with RA was positively correlated with RF(r=0.861,0.934,all P＜0.05)and ACPA in synovial fluid and synovial tissue(r=0.854,0.913,all P＜0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension(OR=3.241,95%CI1.491～6.752),diabetes mellitus(OR=2.565,95%CI1.126～5.813),synovial fluid(OR=4.450,95%CI1.652～11.622),and CCP/AST expression in synovial tissues(OR=5.629,95%CI2.474～12.390)were independent risk factors for the development of RA(P＜0.05).Conclusion CCP/AST showed high expression in synovial fluid and synovial tissue of RA patients and related to disease activity and joint destruction,which can be used to assess the clinical joint mobility and bone destruction degree in such patients.