Abstract—
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that destroys joint cartilage and causes disability. Synovial inflammation, with angiogenesis, is an early event in the progression of the disease. Angiopoietin 2 (ANGPT2) is a cytokine with both inflammatory and angiogenic effects. Many genes can influence RA susceptibility and disease activity. The aim is to assess the relationship between ANGPT2 gene polymorphism (rs3020221) and RA. The study was a case-control study that included 212 RA patients and 238 age-and gender-matched healthy volunteers. RA disease activity was assessed using the Disease Activity Score 28 index. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, and antibody to cyclic citrullinated peptide were measured. ANGPT2 rs3020221 C > T SNP genotyping was done using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The TT genotype was more frequently represented in RA patients than in healthy controls (18.9% and 7.1%, respectively, p < 0.001) and increased the chance of developing RA four-fold, as compared to other genotypes (OR = 4.00, 95% CI = 2.09–7.63) (p < 0.001). The CT genotype was associated with elevated levels of the inflammatory markers ESR and CRP in RA patients (p = 0.012 and 0.037, respectively) as well as the DAS28 ESR Score (p < 0.001). The presence of the T allele either under the dominant model (for genotypes CT and TT) or the recessive model (for the genotype TT) predicts RA disease. Assessment of ANGPT2 gene polymorphism is useful to predict the patients with susceptibility to RA. The presence of T allele increased the risk of developing RA disease by two folds.
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This work was reviewed and revised by all the authors and all of them were contributed equally. N. S: designed the protocol, collected and analyzed the data, wrote the manuscript, and did the final revision and review of the manuscript. E. A: collected, analyzed, and interpreted the samples and the data, wrote the manuscript, and did the final revision and review of the manuscript. A. A: handled the acquisition of the data, drafting of the article, and did the final revision and review of the manuscript. H. A: did the sample collection, drafting of the main manuscript, and the review of the manuscript and the final revision. O. H: designed the idea of the study, analyzed the data, wrote the main manuscript, and reviewed the manuscript with final approval.
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Nasef, S.I., Ellawindy, A., Askar, A.M. et al. Assessment of Angiopoietin-2 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Inflammation 46, 853–860 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-022-01773-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-022-01773-3