Usefulness of Serum Leucine-Rich Alpha-2 Glycoprotein as a Disease Activity Biomarker in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Published in: Journal of Korean medical science Vol. 29; no. 9; pp. 1199 - 1204
• Main Authors: Ha, You Jung, Kang, Eun-Jin, Lee, Sang-Won, Lee, Soo-Kon, Park, Yong-Beom, Song, Jung-Soo, Choi, Sang Tae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 01.09.2014; 대한의학회
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Area Under Curve; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - blood; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - diagnosis; Biomarkers - blood; Blood Sedimentation; C-Reactive Protein - analysis; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Glycoproteins - blood; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Original; ROC Curve; Severity of Illness Index; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - blood; 의학일반; Disease Activity; Leucine-Rich Alpha-2-Glycoprotein; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Arthritis, Rheumatoid
• ISSN: 1011-8934; 1598-6357; 1598-6357
• DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.9.1199

Our study aimed to investigate whether serum leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein (LRG) levels are elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition, we assessed their correlation with disease activity parameters and pro-inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Our study included 69 patients with RA and 48 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum concentrations of TNF-α and LRG were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum LRG concentrations were significantly elevated in patients with RA compared with those in healthy controls (30.8 ± 14.4 vs. 22.2 ± 6.1 ng/mL; P<0.001). In patients with RA, serum LRG levels were found to be correlated with disease activity score 28 (DAS28), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein levels (γ=0.671; γ=0.612; and γ=0.601, P<0.001, respectively), but not with serum TNF-α levels. Serum LRG levels in patients with an active disease status (DAS28≥2.6) were significantly higher than those in remission (DAS28<2.6) (36.45 ± 14.36 vs. 24.63 ± 8.81 ng/mL; P<0.001). Our findings suggest that serum LRG could contribute to the inflammatory process independent of TNF-α and it may be a novel biomarker for assessing inflammatory activity in patients with RA.