title: The Activity of JAK/STAT and NF-κB in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research is still being conducted in order to determine the mechanisms responsible for the initiation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as well as for its persistence and progression.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this work was to establish the expression of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) transcription factors and the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NFκB) transcription factor in peripheral blood leukocytes and synovial fluid cells. The correlations between the activation level of the transcription factors and the activity of the disease were also analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, the study included 34 RA patients and 19 healthy individuals as controls. The expression of NFκB, STAT1, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5 and STAT6 in peripheral blood leukocytes and synovial fluid cells was established. The immunocytochemistry method was used to determine the degree of activation of STAT and NF-κB transcription factors. For the location of the factors, primary polyclonal anti-STATs and monoclonal anti-NF-κB antibodies were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of STAT1, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5, STAT6 and NFκB was significantly higher in the group of RA patients than in the controls. No statistically significant differences were found between the expression of STATs in peripheral blood leukocytes and synovial fluid cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In comparison with the control group, the expression of the STAT and NFκB transcription factors in RA patients was higher, which may be helpful in better understanding the etiopathogenesis of the disease in the future, and may potentially have important therapeutic implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Świerkot
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: L. Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Czarny
authors.affiliation: L. Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zaczyńska
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sokolik
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Madej
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Lucyna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Korman
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw University Hospital, Poland.
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sebastian
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw University Hospital, Poland.
authors.forename: Patryk
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wojtala
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw University Hospital, Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Lubiński
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wiland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053612:Janus Kinases / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; D053612:Janus Kinases
keywords: NFκB expression; STAT expression; rheumatoid arthritis