Expression levels of CXCR4 and CXCL12 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and its correlation with disease activity

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the expression levels of C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and CXC ligand 12 (CXCL12) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the correlation with disease activity. In total, 60 patients with RA were selected as the study group, comprising of 28 patients in active-stage and 32 patients in remission-stage. In addition, 60 patients with osteoarthritis were selected as the control group. Western blotting and ELISA were used to detect the expression of CXCR4 and CXCL12, respectively. The Spearman's correlation test was used to analyze correlations between CXCR4 and CXCL12, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), disease activity score 28 (DAS28) scores and rheumatoid factor (RF). The present results suggested that CXCR4 and CXCL12 expression levels in the serum and joint synovial fluid of the study group were significantly higher compared with the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, CXCR4 and CXCL12 expression levels in the RA-active group were higher compared with the remission (P<0.05) and control groups (P<0.01). The Pearson test results suggested that the expression levels of CXCR4 and CXCL12 in the serum and joint synovial fluid of patients with RA had a positive correlation with the ESR, CRP, RF and DAS28 scores (P<0.05). CXCL12 and CXCR4 were highly expressed in the serum and joint synovial fluid of patients with RA, and these expression levels were positively correlated with ESR, CRP, RF and DAS28 scores. Therefore, these clinical parameters may be used as indicators to evaluate the disease activity of patients with RA.

Regulatory T-cells are central hubs for age-, sex- and severity-associated cellular networks during COVID-19

“…Further reinforcing this impression of dysregulated humoral immunity, we saw increased CXCR4 expression, a common feature of autoantibody mediated autoimmune diseases, such as SLE [38][39][40] . Increased CXCR4 on B-cells or T-cells may allow them to home towards extrafollicular sites and potentially disrupt light zone organization in germinal centers 41 .…”

“…The balance between CXCR4 and CXCR5 in B-cells is believed to play a key role in autoimmune disorders such as Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Rheumatoid arthritis, demonstrated by increases in a CXCR4 + CXCR5 lo subset in SLE [38][39][40] . We observed downregulation of CXCR5 expression by non-plasma B-cells in severe COVID-19 patients (Fig.…”

Qingluoyin granules protect against adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats via downregulating the CXCL12/CXCR4-NF-κB signalling pathway

“…The CXCR4 and CXCL12 expression levels in serum and joint synovial fluid of the study group were found to be markedly higher than those of controls (Peng et al. 2020 ). The level of CXCL12 decreased in the serum of patients with RA after synovectomy (Kanbe et al.…”

Targeting the chemokine receptor CXCR4 with histamine analogue to reduce inflammation in juvenile arthritis: a proof of concept for COVID-19 therapeutic approach

“…This CXCR4-mediated dual anti-IFN and anti-inflammatory activity may provide clinical benefits as type I IFNs are widely detected and functionally active in RA [27]. Interestingly, a recent study shows that the levels of CXCR4 and its natural ligand, CXCL12 are significantly higher in the serum and joint synovial fluids of active RA patients compared to the control group [28].…”

“…Moreover, CXCR4 and CXCL12 expression levels in the RA active group are higher compared to the remission group [28]. Higher accessibility to CXCR4 in RA patients makes targeting the CXCR4 anti-inflammatory pathway a particularly promising strategy for these pathologies.…”