Chinese researchers identify new biomarkers for rheumatoid arthritis

Chinese researchers have identified new biomarkers for rheumatoid arthritis, which can facilitate the early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The commonly used clinical diagnostic marker for rheumatoid arthritis is anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA), but about one-third of the patients are ACPA-negative. As a result, many patients cannot receive timely diagnosis and treatment, which affects their quality of life and prognosis.

A research group led by Professor Zhang Xuan from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital used protein microarray technology to explore new effective biomarkers for ACPA-negative rheumatoid arthritis.

They spent eight years collecting more than 1,000 cases and compared various biomarkers that are related to rheumatoid arthritis. They identified anti-PTX3 and anti-DUSP11 autoantibodies as novel biomarkers for the disease. Furthermore, the group explored the pathogenic role of autoantigen PTX3 in rheumatoid arthritis inflammation.

The research has good prospects for clinical application and can help provide a theoretical basis for designing small molecule inhibitors to treat rheumatoid arthritis, according to the research team.

The research was published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases and Journal of Autoimmunity.