Using protein microarray reveals clinical correlation between self-perception of patient and the apoptosis-related proteins in rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p><jats:bold>Background: </jats:bold>The most severe effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are loss of physical function, which may have a significant impact on self-perception of patient (SPP). However, the inherent relationship between SPP and the key proteins is not clear. The aim of this study was to get an insight into SPP of RA in connection with the the apoptosis-related proteins. <jats:bold>Methods: </jats:bold>We set out to investigate changes of the apoptosis-related proteins expression in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of RA. Additionally, we aimed to correlate the apoptosis-related proteins expression profiles with SPP and clinical indexes. To this end, we employed antibody microarrays of the the apoptosis-related proteins in PBMCs from four RA patients and seven healthy controls. We used bioinformatics to screen several the apoptosis-related proteins. To validate key protein candidates, we performed Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on 30 RA patients and 30 healthy controls. <jats:bold>Results: </jats:bold>We found the expression of ten the apoptosis-related proteins (caspase3, CD40, SMAC, HSP27, HTRA, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-6, sTNF-R1, sTNF-R2, TRAILR-3) were significantly altered in PBMCs of RA patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that these ten the apoptosis-related proteins are potential biomarkers of RA. Spearman Correlation analysis and Logistic-regression analysis<jats:bold> </jats:bold>revealed that the 10 selected the apoptosis-related proteins correlated with SPP and clinical indexes. <jats:bold>Conclusion: </jats:bold>Therefore, we highlight some the apoptosis-related proteins may serve as potential biomarkers in prediction of SPP for RA patients, although the underlying mechanisms need to be further explored.</jats:p>