DNA methylation patterns in monocytes associate and evolve with prognosis in undifferentiated arthritis
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ABSTRACT: The identification of predictive markers in an early undifferentiated arthritis (UA) patients is pivotal for selecting appropriate therapies to avoid a poor prognosis. In this work, we investigated the association between clinical features and DNA methylation patterns in monocytes from UA patients to seek potential prognostic biomarkers.
Project description:Ontogenic origin of monocytic cells in the synovial fluid is currently under discussion. Also, the polarization of these cells have been described to a play a role in the pathogenic joints of arthritis patients. To answer these questions, we analyzed data from blood and SF monocytes and compared them with those of in vitro-generated monocyte-derived macrophages. All conditions were compared, and differences were characterized, considering experimental condition (MO, M-CSF or GM-CSF), compartment (blood or SF) and patient prognosis (good or poor).
Project description:Undifferentiated arthritis (UA) is the term used to cover all the cases of arthritis that do not fit a specific diagnosis. A high proportion of UA patients can progress to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or a different definite rheumatic disease, while others undergo spontaneous remission. In this study, we performed DNA methylation profiling of a UA cohort, in which progression into RA occurs for a significant proportion of the patients.
Project description:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory joint disorder that results in progressive joint damage when insufficiently treated. In order to prevent joint destruction and functional disability in RA, early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment with Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) is needed. However, in daily clinical practice, patients may initially display symptoms of arthritis that do not fulfil the classification criteria for a definite diagnosis of RA, or any other joint disease, a situation called “Undifferentiated Arthritis” (UA). Out of the patients with UA, 30 to 50% usually develop RA, and early identification of these remains a challenge. At the present time, although several risk factors associated with the development of RA have been identified (6-9), a model that reliably predicts the probability of evolution of UA into RA in individual patients is lacking. In order to better identify early RA patients, an American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) collaboration recently developed new classification criteria. Although these criteria are more sensitive, the risk of over-diagnosis is an important issue to consider, especially in very early disease. In this context, the present study explores the feasibility of a molecular diagnosis of arthritis, based on the identification of disease-specific transcriptomic profiles in synovial biopsies from patients with arthritis according to the underlying condition. In a previous study, we performed global analyses of gene expression in synovial biopsies from patients with RA, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Osteoarthritis (OA), using high-density oligonucleotide spotted microarrays. We found that the gene expression profiles are strikingly different according to the underlying condition. Thus, the majority of the genes up-regulated in SLE are type I Interferon-inducible genes, as compared with the up-regulation genes involved in T cell and B cell activation in RA, and in extracellular matrix homeostasis in OA. Based on these results, similar analyses were performed in synovial biopsies from patients with seronegative arthritis (SA) and microcrystalline arthritis (MIC), in order to identify disease-specific molecular signatures.
Project description:Gouty Arthritis (GA) is caused by urate deposition in the joint capsule, cartilage, bone, and surrounding tissues to trigger recurrent attacks of acute joint inflammation. However, the clearance mechanism of urate deposition is still not clear. We aimed to investigate whether lymphatics vessels can drain monosodium and involve in the immune process of GA. Methods: Inguinal lymph nodes (LNs) in 4 normal volunteers and 4 patients with acute flare of GA were examined by ultrasound. Acute and chronic GA flare mouse models were established by intra-footpad administrations of monosodium urate (MSU) for 1 week or 1 month. Mice were treated with VEGFR-3 inhibitor or undergone popliteal lymph node (PLN) excision or PLN macrophage depletion. The severity of foot inflammation, lymphatic draining function, concentration of uric acid (UA), and macrophage population were examined. Macrophages were co-cultured with MSU-treated lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and differential gene expression of LECs was assessed by Agilent gene expression microarray. Results: 1) Draining LNs were enlarged in patients with GA flare and GA mouse models. 2) The lymphatic function and structure were abnormal in GA mouse models. 3) Acute GA mice had elevated UA levels in draining LNs, but not in the serum, while chronic GA mice had elevated UA levels in both LNs and serum. 4) Blockade of VEGFR-3 reduced foot inflammation in chronic GA mice. 5) MSU induces pro-inflammatory polarization of macrophages by inducing LEC inflammation. 6) PLN local depletion of macrophages or removal of PLNs alleviated foot inflammation in GA. Conclusions: Lymphatics drain MSU to the draining LNs to clear deposited urate in the distal extremity and induce LECs to stimulate macrophage pro-inflammatory response during GA. We have identified a novel mechanism about MSU clearance and pro-inflammatory macrophage activation, and provided possible therapeutic approach for GA.
Project description:Breast carcinoma (BC) have been extensively profiled by high-throughput technologies for over a decade, and broadly speaking, these studies can be grouped into those that seek to identify patient subtypes (studies of heterogeneity) or those that seek to identify gene signatures with prognostic or predictive capacity. The shear number of reported signatures has led to speculation that everything is prognostic in BC. Here we show that this ubiquity is an apparition caused by a poor understanding of the inter- relatedness between subtype and the molecular determinants of prognosis. Our approach constructively shows how to avoid confounding due to a patient's subtype, clinicopathological or treatment profile. The approach identifies patients who are predicted to have good outcome at time of diagnosis by all available clinical and molecular markers, but who experience a distant metastasis within five years. These inherently difficult patients (~7% of BC) are prioritized for investigations of intra-tumoral heterogeneity. 321 samples from breast cancer patients.
Project description:This study describes a circulating miRNA signature of unstable angina (UA), which may be used as a novel biomarker for unstable coronary artery disease (CAD). The Taqman low-density miRNA array were used to identify distinct miRNA expression profiles in the plasma of patients with typical UA and angiographically documented CAD (UA group, n = 13) compared to individuals with non-cardiac chest pain (control group, n = 13). EDTA-plasma samples were obtained before the cardiac catheterization procedure.The study included 2 groups that were classified according to angiographic evidence and clinical evaluation of chest pain. Patients with chest pain or discomfort but with angiographic exclusion of coronary atherosclerosis were enrolled in the control group (n = 13). Chest discomfort referred to the following complaints: chest pain, pressure, tightness, or heaviness; pain that radiated to the neck, jaw, shoulders, back, or one or both arms; and persistent shortness of breath. Patients with typical unstable angina (UA) and angiographically documented CAD were enrolled in the UA group (n = 13).
Project description:An exploration of the peripheral blood CD4+ T-cell transcriptome of early arthritis clinic attendees, seeking novel diagnostic tools and pathophysiological insights. Ex-vivo CD4+ T-cell RNA was obtained following first early arthritis clinic attendance from 173 patients. Four diagnostic categories were confirmed at median 28 months follow-up. Outcome categories are ACPA- RA (A; n=31), ACPA+ RA (B; n=41), Non-RA Inflammatory arthritis (C; n=56), and Non-RA/Non-Inflammatory arthritis (D; n=45). In order to derive and validate a diagnostic gene signature, samples were split into Training set (where patients could be diagnosed at presentation; n=111) and validation set of undifferentiated arthritis (UA; n=62) patients, in whom diagnosis could only be confirmed after the follow-up period. Arrays were processed in two phases (phases 1 and 2). Phase 1 was split into 4 labelling batches, Phase 2 was split into 2 labelling batches. Batch effects were controlled for using this information using the empirical Bayes approach of Johnson et al. (2007). The supplementary file 'GSE20098_non-normalized.txt' contains non-normalized data for Samples GSM502124-GSM502280 and GSM506251-GSM506266.
Project description:This study describes a circulating miRNA signature of unstable angina (UA), which may be used as a novel biomarker for unstable coronary artery disease (CAD). The Taqman low-density miRNA array were used to identify distinct miRNA expression profiles in the plasma of patients with typical UA and angiographically documented CAD (UA group, n = 13) compared to individuals with non-cardiac chest pain (control group, n = 13).