Serum bilirubin and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
BACKGROUND
Oxidative stress and immune imbalance play an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Bilirubin is a powerful antioxidant and also regarded as immunomodulator. Increased evidence shows that bilirubin should be a protective factor for autoimmune disease. However, the relationship between bilirubin and RA remain unclear.


METHODS
We analyzed serum bilirubin levels and other laboratory and clinical data in 130 RA patients (35 patients without any complications), 81 osteoarthritis (OA) patients and 96 healthy controls.


RESULTS
Binary logistic regression adjusted by age and gender revealed that the levels of serum total, indirect bilirubin were significantly lower in RA patients, when compared with healthy controls (P=.015, OR=0.767, 95% CI=0.619-0.951; P=.010, OR=0.664, 95% CI=0.487-0.906, respectively) or OA patients (P=.000, OR=0.763, 95% CI=0.661-0.882; P=.000, OR=0.656, 95% CI=0.532-0.808, respectively). A reduced trend of levels of bilirubin has been detected along with increased disease activity, despite with no significance (P>.05). Spearman rank test further demonstrated that IgG and ESR were negative associated with total, indirect bilirubin, and albumin, prealbumin, APOA, HDL-C were positively associated with bilirubin.


CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the levels of serum bilirubins were decreased in RA, and decreased levels could be associated with IgG, albumin and inflammatory marker ESR.
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Du
D
Juping
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Yuan
Y
Yuan
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Chen
C
Shiyong
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Li
L
Jun
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Linhai City of Traditional Chinese Hospital, Linhai, Zhejiang Province, China.
Zhou
Z
Xiuxiu
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Ying
Y
Haijian
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Shi
S
Jianfeng
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.|Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Shen
S
Bo
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis; D018384:Oxidative Stress
D015415:Biomarkers; D001663:Bilirubin
bilirubin; oxidative stress; rheumatoid arthritis