title: Changes in proliferation kinetics of T cells: a new predictive cellular biomarkers for early rheumatoid arthritis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It has been demonstrated that early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients prevents further joint damage and disability, but biomarkers enabling early RA to be distinguished within the undifferentiated arthritis (UA) cohort are still being sought.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the research was to study the pathomechanism of initiation and progression of UA→RA and to find such new predictive biomarkers on the basis of functional studies of the immune system.
  
  
  METHODS
  55 patients with UA were enrolled into the study and followed up for 2 years. The dynamic parameters of proliferation of the peripheral blood CD4+ T cells were recorded at the UA stage. During the follow-up study, standard diagnostic procedures were performed to make the final diagnosis. Comparison of the CD4+ T cell proliferation parameters in the UA-RA and UA-non-RA patients was conducted after the final diagnosis was established.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our studies showed that the G0-G1 transition time, the cell cycle duration, the number of cell divisions per dividing CD4+ cells and the percentage of dividing CD4+ T cells differed significantly between UA-RA and UA-non-RA patients. Moreover, these proliferation parameters achieved higher specificity and sensitivity in the detection of early RA within UA patients compared to the routine serological tests available.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proliferation parameters of CD4+ T cells reflect central pathophysiological changes in RA and can be used as new biomarkers for early RA diagnosis, which would enable the international rheumatology recommendation to be achieved concerning the early diagnosis and treatment of RA patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Dębinki 7, 88-210, Gdańsk, Poland. jjustynapawlowska@o2.pl
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pawłowska
authors.forename: Żaneta
authors.initials: Ż
authors.lastname: Smoleńska
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zdrojewski
authors.forename: Jacek M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Witkowski
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bryl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers