Serum PGLYRP-1 is a highly discriminatory biomarker for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Peptidoglycan recognition protein-1 (PGLYRP-1) is a part of the innate immune system. It is well-known that dysregulation of innate immune responses is present in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the role of Pglyrp1/PGLYPR-1 in RA is poorly understood. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the level of Pglyrp1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. An ELISA was used to measure the level of PGLYPR-1 in the serum, and correlation analysis was performed to analyze the association between the level of PGLYPR-1 in the serum and clinical characteristics. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic value of PGLYPR-1 in serum. The expression of PGLYPR-1 in the serum of healthy controls compared with PGLYPR-1 in the serum from patients with RA was significantly increased compared with patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The level of PGLYPR-1 in serum was correlated with rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide. ROC curve analysis suggested that PGLYPR-1 in the serum may have significant value for RA diagnosis. In addition, the risk score based on PGLYPR-1 in the serum also significantly discriminated the patients with RA from the disease controls (SLE). The present study suggested that increased expression of PGLYPR-1 in the serum from patients with RA may serve as a potential biomarker for RA diagnosis.