title: Effects of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor on serum level of HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitor-infliximab on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients and detect the serum level of HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 before and after TNF inhibitor treatment. 138 patients at active stage of AS were treated with infliximab; serum was collected before and after TNF-α inhibitor treatment for analysis. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay were applied to detect the levels of HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 at different time points, which were used for statistical analysis with clinical data including two AS indicators (erythrocyte sedimentation rate--ESR and C-reactive protein--CRP). After the treatment for 6 weeks, RT-PCR showed that the gene expressions of HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 were significantly downregulated compared with baseline before infliximab treatment (P < 0.05); flow cytometry showed that the HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 double-labeled cells were significantly downregulated (P < 0.05). After 2, 6, or 10 weeks of infliximab treatment, the levels of ESR, CRP, serum HLA-B27, and PDCD-1 of the AS patients were all significantly lower than the baseline levels (P < 0.05), and the serum HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 levels were all significantly correlated with ESR (P < 0.05). Infliximab, an anti-TNF-α inhibitor, decreases significantly not only ESR and CRP, but also the serum levels of HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 in patients with AS. HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 are involved in the pathogenesis, and disease activities of AS. HLA-B27 and PDCD-1 are potentially the useful markers of AS activity and useful parameters to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-TNF-α inhibitor in treating AS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second People's Hospital of Huaian, Jiangsu, 223002, China, drxiaogangchen@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jinshan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xiaowu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Junsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D000069285:Infliximab; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000235:genetics; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab