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Increased plasma levels of CCL20 in peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients and its association with clinical and laboratory parameters

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Abstract

Introduction

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that primarily affects small joints. The impaired chemokine and cytokine responses are essential pathological mechanisms for the RA clinical presentation. Given the role of chemokines and inflammatory reactions in RA pathogenesis, we evaluate the association between the plasma concentration of CCL20 with the clinical and laboratory parameters in newly diagnosed RA patients.

Material and methods

Forty-five newly diagnosed RA patients and forty-five healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. The plasma levels of CCL20, rheumatoid factor, and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique.

Result

The plasma levels of CCL20 were increased significantly in RA patients compared to the healthy controls (p < 0.0001). There was a positive correlation between CCL20 and RF, anti-CCP, ESR, and DAS-28 (p < 0.0001, r = 0.669; p < 0.015, r = 0.358; p < 0.0001, r = 0.586; p < 0.0001, r = 0.769).

Conclusion

The increased plasma levels of CCL20 in newly diagnosed RA patients may contribute to RA pathogenesis, and it is in association with clinical and laboratory parameters.

Key Points

• CCL20 has a contribution to the early phase of RA.

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Acknowledgements

We thankfully acknowledge the deputy of research and technology of the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences for financial support of this work.

Funding

This work was supported by the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences grant number (3010723).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Mehran Pournazari and Parisa Feizollahi contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Research Development Center, Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mehran Pournazari, Shirin Assar & Parviz Soufivand

  2. Student Research Committee, Medical School, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Parisa Feizollahi

  3. Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Parisa Feizollahi & Seyed Askar Roghani

  4. Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Seyed Askar Roghani, Bijan Soleymani & Zahra Mohammadi Kish

  5. Medical Biology Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Fariborz Bahrehmand

  6. Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mahdi Taghadosi

Authors
  1. Mehran Pournazari
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  2. Parisa Feizollahi
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Contributions

M.T. was involved in the concept and design of the study. P.F. drafted the manuscript. All authors were involved in acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting the data and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahdi Taghadosi.

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Pournazari, M., Feizollahi, P., Roghani, S.A. et al. Increased plasma levels of CCL20 in peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients and its association with clinical and laboratory parameters. Clin Rheumatol 41, 265–270 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-021-05899-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-021-05899-x

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