The role of circulating miR-146a in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated by Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is polygenic autoimmune disease with unclear etiology. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of RA. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of miR-146a in patients with RA receiving Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) treatment.In total, 69 patients with RA and 69 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study, and patients with RA received TwHF treatment for 24 weeks. Blood samples were collected from RA patients and HC, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated. Expression of miR-146a was analyzed in RA patients (baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks) and HC.Circulating miR-146a expression was markedly increased in patients with RA compared with healthy controls (P < .001), ROC analysis of miR-146a for diagnosis for RA showed that the AUC was 0.908 (95% CI: 0.862–0.955) with a sensitivity of 87.0% and a specificity of 82.6% at best cutoff. And miR-146a expression was positively associated with the DAS28 score and CRP level (P = .002 and P = .019). Moreover, miR-146a expression was markedly reduced after TwHF therapy (P < .001), and baseline miR-146a level was observed to present an increased tendency in responders compared with non-responders at 24 weeks (P = .066).Our study presented that circulating miR-146a level was correlated with risk and disease activity of RA patients by TwHF treatment, which could strikingly decrease expression of miR-146a in RA patients, and miR-146a may have a value in predicting clinical response of TwHF treatment. It indicates that circulating miR-146a plays a prominent role in RA patients treated by TwHF.

MiR‐146a levels in rheumatoid arthritis and their correlation with disease activity: a meta‐analysis

“…Two of these were excluded because they had no data on miR‐146a. Thus, 14 articles met the inclusion criteria: one report contained data on two different groups, so we independently analyzed those studies. These studies consisted of 683 patients and 477 controls (Table , Fig.…”

“…Although studies have shown that increased miR‐146a levels are associated with RA, have and identified a correlation between miR‐146a levels and RA activity, other reports have found no such associations . These disparities are probably caused by small sample sizes, low statistical power and/or clinical heterogeneity.…”

Correlation of microRNA expression profile with clinical response to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor in treating rheumatoid arthritis patients: A prospective cohort study

“…22 Another interesting study indicates that miR-146a discloses a potential predictive value for clinical response to Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) treatment in RA patients. 23 These previous studies suggest that miRNAs have potential value in predicting treatment efficacy in RA patients.…”

Effects of Tim-3 silencing on the viability of fibroblast-like synoviocytes and lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory reactions

“…Of the 20 patients, 5 were male and 15 were females, with a mean age of 53 years. All patients with RA were diagnosed according to the standard for the American College of Rheumatology Classification Criteria (22). Normal synovial tissue was obtained from 10 healthy controls (5 male and 5 female patients with a mean age of 38 years) that had undergone amputation between June 2015 and June 2016 in the Orthopedics Department due to accidents but did not have rheumatoid disease.…”