title: Serum progranulin irrelated with Breg cell levels, but elevated in RA patients, reflecting high disease activity.
abstract: Soluble progranulin (PGRN) is known to directly regulate regulatory T cells; however, whether PGRN levels are elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and affect the regulatory subsets of B cells remain unknown. In this study, a total of 80 RA patients and 60 healthy controls were studied. Serum progranulin levels were determined using enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the feasibility of serum PGRN as a biomarker for distinguishing patients with RA. CD19(+)CD5(+)GrB(+) B cells were analyzed by flow cytometry in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Serum progranulin levels in RA patients (median, 59.4 ng/mL) and in RA patients DAS28 > 5.1 (median, 71.98 ng/mL) were much higher than those in normal controls (median, 46.3 ng/mL; P < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve for progranulin levels was 0.705 for RA versus normal controls and the area under the ROC curve for progranulin levels in RA patients DAS28 > 5.1 was 0.977 versus normal controls (P < 0.001). Interestingly, serum progranulin and DAS28, CRP, ESR were all positively correlated in RA patients (P < 0.001). The number of CD19(+)CD5(+)GrB(+) B cells was significantly higher in RA patients (P < 0.05); however, the level of Breg cells was not related to PGRN (P > 0.05). Our findings indicated that induction of PGRN expression may play a role in RA immune reaction and PGRN levels could be a useful biomarker in RA inflammatory response, but irrelated with Breg cell levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Jiaxi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Shiyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Chunlong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. shenbkz@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018941:Antigens, CD19 / Q000097:blood; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D060151:B-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018956:CD5 Antigens / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D053804:Granzymes / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000379:methods; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D000077153:Progranulins; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D018941:Antigens, CD19; D015415:Biomarkers; D018956:CD5 Antigens; C492314:GRN protein, human; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D000077153:Progranulins; C509213:GZMB protein, human; D053804:Granzymes
keywords: Progranulin; Regulatory subsets of B cells; Rheumatoid arthritis