Objective: Combined detection of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin ( anti-MCV ) antibodies, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide ( anti-CCP) antibodies and rheumatoid factor ( RF-IgM) levels to investigate the diagnostic value of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin (anti-MCV) antibodies for rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods: A total of 359 patients with RA,128 patients with other rheumatic diseases and 90 healthy controls were involved.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) was used to detect anti-MCV and anti-CCP, and dynamic immune nephelometry was applied to detect RF-IgM .The sensitivity and specificity were obtained from the experimental data.Results:The sensitivities of anti-MCV,anti-CCP and RF-IgM were 85.1%,76.7% and 82.7%in RA respectively.The specificities were 93.2%,95.1%and 80.1%respectively.Combined detection of anti-MCV and anti-CCP,the sensitivity decreased to 70.2%; but the specificity increased to 98.7%.The sensitivity reached to 89.5% with specificity 97.6%when the union of anti-MCV and anti-CCP positivity was used as criterion.Conclusion:Anti-MCV and anti-CCP are novel makers for RA diagnosis with high sensitivity and high specificity.Combination of anti-MCV and anti-CCP is more helpful for RA diagnosis.

Objective:To observe the effect of CD40 siRNA on the changes in kidney,urinary protein and complement C3 of MRL/Lpr mice and explore its therapy on lupus nephritis.Methods: 16 female MRL/Lpr mice were randomly divided into control group,empty vector group,CD40-siRNA1 group and CD40-siRNA2 group.The vectors expressing siRNA against CD40 were injected by tail veil into MRL/Lpr mice,while MRL/Lpr mice in control group and empty vector group were injected with the same dose of PBS and pGFP-V-RS vector respectively.There were six times injection and every one day.The 24 hours urine output was gathered 24 hours before mice were killed.Fourteen days following administration,these mice were killed,tissue sections of kidney were observed if the signal of siRNA were expressed in kidney.The expression levels of CD40 mRNA and protein in kidney tissue of MRL/Lpr mice were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry methods respectively.At the same time,the pathological changes of the kidney were observed by haematoxylin-eosin ( HE) staining method.The 24 h urinary protein content was detected using the method of coomassie brilliant blue and the expression levels of complement C3 in serum were detected by Immunoturbidimetric assays.Results:The vector of CD40-siRNA was expressed in kidney of MRL/Lpr.The expression levels of CD40 mRNA and protein in kidney were lower in CD40-siRNA1 group and CD40-siRNA2 group than control group and empty vector group on the 14th day after last injection ( P<0.05).The inflammatory cells infiltration of kidney and some glomerular volume were significantly reduced in CD40-siRNA1 group and CD40-siRNA2 group than control group and empty vector group.The renal tubular swelling was alleviated in CD40-siRNA1 group and CD40-siRNA2 group than control group and empty vector group.The levels of 24 hours urinary protein were lower and the levels of complement C3 were higher in CD40-siRNA1 group and CD40-siRNA2 group than control group and empty vector group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:CD-40 siRNA can suppress the expression levels of CD40 mRNA and protein and decrease inflammatory cells infiltration in kidney of MRL/Lpr.Meanwhile after suppressing expression of CD40 mRNA and protein, it can reduce the content of 24 hours urinary protein and elevate the level of complement C3 in serum,which CD-40 siRNA can delay progress of the disease and protect kidney,so that it has therapy effect on lupus nephritis.

Objective:To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of lupus nephritis(LN) patients by detecting the anti-nucleosome antibodies, anti-C1q antibodies and anti-double stranded antibodies(anti-ds DNA), and to clarify the risk factors of LN in the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE),and the significance of three kinds of antibodies in diagnosis of LN.Methods:A total of 120 SLE patients were selected and divided into LN group(n=60) and non-LN group(n=60).The ANAS data of 120 patients were retrospectively analyzed,the levels of anti-C1q antibodies were measured.The clinical symptoms and laboratory data of the patients with positive anti-dsDNA,-nucleosome and-C1q antibodies (3-pos group)and negative three kinds of antibodies(non 3-pos group) were analyzed in LN group.Results:The positive rate of anti-C1q antibody of the patients in LN group (40.00%) was higher than that in non-LN group (21.67%) (χ2=4.728, P=0.03).The positive rate of anti-dsDNA antibody in LN group was 66.67%, and it was 46.67% in non-LN group;the positive rates of the patients had significant difference between two groups (χ2=4.887, P=0.027).The positive rate of anti-nucleosome antibody in LN group was 58.33%, and it was 40.00% in non-LN group;the positive rates of the patients had significant difference between two groups (χ2=4.034, P=0.045).The positive rates of U1-snRNP, SmD1 and other antibodies Jo-1, SSA/Ro60kD, SSA/Ro52kD, SSB, ScL-70, CENP-B,and P0 had no significant differences between two groups(P>0.05).The levels of C3 and C4 and hemoglobinin of the patients in 3-pos group were higher than those innon 3-pos group (P<0.05);the age,the levels of immunoglobulin protein and C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell (WBC) and platelet had no statistically significant differences between 3-pos and non 3-pos groups(P>0.05).The clinical symptoms were not statistically significant in 3-pos and non 3-pos groups (P>0.05).Conclusion:The anti-nucleosome, anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA antibodies are the risk factors of SLE complicated with LN;the positive antibodies can improve the diagnostic rate of LN.The 3-pos patients have more severe damage in complements and blood system with higher renal disease activities.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic values of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibody ( anti-CCP ) and rheumatoid factor( RF) in rheumatoid arthritis( RA) ,and analyse the clinical relevance of prognosis,drug reaction and bone destruction between anti-CCP and RA.Methods: Serum anti-CCP was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ) , and RF was detected by immune rate nephelometry.Results:The sensitivity and specificity of anti-CCP in RA were 83.0%and 96.7%,while the sensitivity and specificity of RF in RA were 76.0%and 70.0%.When joint detect anti-CCP and RF,with anti-CCP or RF positive as a positive determination,with anti-CCP and RF negative as a negative judgment,the combined sensitivity was 87.0%,higher than that of detection alone.The combined specificity was 98.3%, higher than that of single detection.There were big different concentrations of anti-CCP among RA patients before treatment, three months after treatment and six months after treatment.There were significant differences between bone erosion and non-bone erosion in RA patients.And the more serious joint damage,the higher the concentrations of anti-CCP.As for treatment,anti-CCP concentrations declined.Conclusion:Combined detection of anti-CCP and RF can significantly improve the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of RA.The concentration of anti-CCP can change with effective treatment,then dynamic monitoring can be used as study drug efficacy.At the same time,the level of anti-CCP in patients with RA can reflect the degree of bone erosion,and serious bone destruction who was poor treatment effect.

ObjectiveThis work is aimed to investigate the possible association of dendritic cell immunoreceptor (DCIR) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility in Chinese Han population.Methods A total of 523 patients with RA and 510 healthy controls were genotyped for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2377422 and rs10840759.Association analyses were performed on the whole data set and on RA subsets based on the status of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP) in RA patients.Finally,we carried out the association analysis of rs2377422 with DCIR mRNA expression in RA patients.Statistical analysis used in this study included X2 test,Logistic regression,and Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsDCIR rs2377422 was found significantly associated with RA(allele analysis: OR 1.26; 95％CI 1.06～1.51,P=0.005; genotype analysis CC vs TT+TC: OR 1.34; 95％CI 1.18～2.06,P=0.004).Following stratification for anti-CCP antibody status,association of ra2377422 with anti-CCP-positive RA was observed(allele analysis: OR 1.22,95％CI 0.99～1.48,P=0.055).In contrast,the SNP rs2377422 was found specifically susceptible to anti-CCP-negative RA(allele analysis: OR 1.46; 95％CI 1.10～1.93,P=0.0091; genotype analysis CC vs TT+TC: OR 1.58;95％CI 1.01～2.47,P=0.043),despite loss of power in the analysis.DCIR gene transcription quantification analysis further proved the dominant effect of rs2480256 CC genotype on DCIR mRNA expression levels in RA patients (CC vs TT+TC: 0.429±0.069 vs 0.238±-0.023,U=1861,P=0.0015).ConclusionThe study provides evidence for the association between DCIR rs2377422 and RA,particularly with anti-CCP-negative RA in Chinese Han populations.

Objective; To explore the effects of miR-124a on the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cell cycle in the macrophage J774. 1 cells of the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) model mice, and to elucidate the mechanism of miR-124a in the pathogenesis of RA. Methods: The J774. 1 cells in logarithmic growth phage were obtained and uniformly inoculated in the petri dish with 1 × 106 mL-1, and there were 3 multiple holes in each group; transfection was carried out when the fusion degree of the cells reached 60%. The cells were divided into blank control group (without any treatment), empty vector group (transfected with adenovirus negative fluid) and miR-124a overexpression group (transfected with miR-124a adenovirus vector). The expression levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in supernatant of the cells in three groups were detected by ELISA 48 h after transfection. RT-PCR was used to detect the relative expression levels of TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA in J774. 1 cells 48 h after transfection and the changes of cell cycle were detected using flow cytometry. Results: The expression levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in supernatant of the cells in miR-124a overexpression group were lower than those in blank control group and empty vector group 48 h after transfection (P=0. 038, P=0. 042; P=0. 043, P=0. 044). The expression levels of TNF-α mRNA and IL-6 mRNA in miR-124a group were significantly lower than those in blank control group and empty vector group (P = 0. 001, P=0.002; P=0. 001, P=0. 003). The pecentage of cells in Gi phase in miR-124a overexpression group was higher than those in blank control group and empty vector group (P<0. 01); the percentages of cells in S phase and G2 phase were lower than those in blank control group and empty vector group (P<0.01). Conclusion: MiR-124a can decrease the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines after transfecting the macrophages J774. 1 cells, and inhibit the proliferation of cells. MiR-124a is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of RA.

Objective:To investigate the effects of a eukaryotic expression plasmid for IL-6 and B-cell activating factor (BAFF) fusion protein on the histopathological changes in salivary and lacrimal glands of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice with Sj?gren′s syndrome and to elucidate the possible therapeutic mechanism of IL-6/BAFF fusion protein eukaryotic expression plasmid in NOD mice.Methods:The eukaryotic expression plasmid for IL-6/BAFF fusion protein was constructed. After transfecting CHO cells with the plasmid, the expression of IL-6/BAFF fusion protein was detected by Western blot. BALB/c mice were injected with the plasmid every two weeks for three times and the titers of anti-IL-6 and anti-BAFF antibodies were measured by ELISA. Twenty-one NOD mice were randomly divided into three groups (control group, empty vector group and therapy group) by numerical table method. The mice in the therapy group were injected with the IL-6/BAFF fusion protein eukaryotic expression plasmid once a week for six times and the mice in the empty vector group were injected with empty plasmid. The levels of anti-IL-6 and anti-BAFF antibodies as well as cytokines (IL-6, BAFF, INF-γ, IL-10 and IL-17A) in mouse serum samples were detected by ELISA. The proportions of Th17, Treg, Th1 and Th2 cells in mouse splenocytes were measured by flow cytometry. Focal lymphocyte infiltration and pathological changes in the lacrimal and salivary glands of mice were observed under light microscopy after HE staining.Results:The eukaryotic expression plasmid for IL-6/BAFF fusion protein increased the levels of anti-IL-6 and anti-BAFF antibodies in the serum of BALB/c mice ( P<0.05). The levels of anti-IL-6 and anti-BAFF antibodies in the serum of NOD mice in the therapy group increased ( P<0.01), while the expression of IL-6, BAFF, INF-γ, IL-10 and IL-17A in NOD mice in the therapy group was lower than that in the control group and the empty vector group ( P<0.05). The percentages of Treg and Th2 cells in the splenocytes of NOD mice increased after treatment ( P<0.05). Moreover, the eukaryotic expression plasmid for IL-6/BAFF fusion protein significantly improved the irregular size and morphology of glandular vesicles in the lacrimal and salivary glands, reduced the ductal dilatation and decreased the focal lymphocyte infiltration in NOD mice. Conclusions:The eukaryotic expression plasmid for IL-6/BAFF fusion protein induced the production of anti-IL-6 and anti-BAFF antibodies, decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines, regulated the balance of Th17/Treg and Th1/Th2 cells, improved the irregular alveolar structure and ductal dilation in the lacrimal and salivary glands and reduced the focal lymphocyte infiltration in NOD mice. This study showed that eukaryotic expression plasmid for IL-6/BAFF fusion protein might serve as a potential target for therapeutic targeting of T and B cells.