MiR-155 expression in the joint effusion and serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and its correlation analysis

Xiaohui Xu^1*, Shiqiang Wu²

¹Department of Orthopedics, Quanzhou First Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, 362000, China - ²Department of Joint Surgery/Department of Trauma Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, 362000, China

This paper was designed to investigate miR-155 expression in the joint effusion and serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its correlation analysis. Altogether sixty patients with malignant RA treated in Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang (a study group) and 50 healthy people undergoing physical examinations (a control group) from May 2017 to May 2018 were enrolled. qRT-PCR was performed for detecting miR-155 expression and rheumatoid factor (RF) in the joint effusion and serum. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for assessing predictive value of diagnostic efficacy. Spearman test was used for correlation analysis. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression were performed for analyzing risk factors related to RA prognosis. miR-155 and RF expression in the joint effusion and serum in the study group was remarkably higher than that in the control group (P< 0.001). miR-155 expression was related to disease staging and joint function classification (P< 0.001). Relative miR-155 expression in the joint effusion (r=0.7223, P< 0.001) and miR-155 in the serum (r=0.7658, P< 0.001) was positively correlated with the joint function classification of RA. The sensitivity and specificity of miR-155 in the joint effusion for diagnosing RA were 78.00% and 88.33%, respectively. Parameters of RF in the joint effusion were 82.00% and 65.00%, respectively. According to the univariate and multivariate Logistic regression, timely treatment, joint function classification, miR-155, and RF were independent risk factors for RA prognosis. In conclusion, miR-155 up-regulates in the joint effusion and serum of patients with RA, and may be involved in the development, progression, and metastasis of the disease. Therefore, miR-155 can be used as a potential biomarker of joint effusion for the metastasis diagnosis and disease evaluation of RA.