Diagnostic role of lncRNA GAS5 and its genetic polymorphisms rs2067079, rs6790 and rs17359906 in rheumatoid arthritis

Mechanisms and functions of lncRNAs linked to autoimmune disease risk alleles

Recent advances in human genomics technologies have helped uncover genetic risk alleles for many complex autoimmune diseases. Intriguingly, over 90% of genome-wide association study (GWAS) risk alleles reside within the non-coding regions of the genome. An emerging new frontier of functional and mechanistic studies have shed light on the functional relevance of risk alleles that lie within long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Here, we review the mechanisms and functional implications of five evolutionarily conserved lncRNAs that display risk allele association with highly prevalent autoimmune diseases.

Serum Levels of Long Non-coding RNAs NEAT1, GAS5, and GAPLINC Altered in Rheumatoid Arthritis

BACKGROUND

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune joint inflammatory disease, presents a significant challenge due to its prevalence, particularly among women, affecting around 6% of individuals over the age of 65. Novel insights into disease mechanisms are crucial for improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

OBJECTIVE

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as potential contributors to the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases, including RA. This study aims to investigate the unique roles of four lncRNAs-NEAT1, GAS5, TMEVPG1, and GAPLINC-in the etiology of RA.

METHODS

Leveraging isolated serum samples from RA patients and healthy controls, we comprehensively evaluated the expression profiles of these lncRNAs.

RESULTS

Notably, our findings unveil a distinctive landscape of lncRNA expressions in RA. Among them, GAPLINC exhibited a significantly elevated average expression in the serum samples of RA patients, suggesting a potential biomarker candidate for disease stratification. Importantly, reduced expression of NEAT1 and GAS5 was observed in RA patients, highlighting their possible roles as diagnostic and prognostic markers. Conversely, TMEVPG1 displayed unaltered expression levels in RA samples.

CONCLUSION

Our study introduces a novel dimension to RA research by identifying NEAT1, GAS5, and GAPLINC as promising serological biomarkers. These findings hold significant clinical implications, offering potential avenues for improved diagnosis, disease monitoring, and therapeutic interventions in RA.

Biomarkers (mRNAs and non-coding RNAs) for the diagnosis and prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis

In recent years, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have continued to improve. However, in the advanced stages of the disease, patients are unable to achieve long-term clinical remission and often suffer from systemic multi-organ damage and severe complications. Patients with RA usually have no overt clinical manifestations in the early stages, and by the time a definitive diagnosis is made, the disease is already at an advanced stage. RA is diagnosed clinically and with laboratory tests, including the blood markers C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the autoantibodies rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). However, the presence of RF and ACPA autoantibodies is associated with aggravated disease, joint damage, and increased mortality, and these autoantibodies have low specificity and sensitivity. The etiology of RA is unknown, with the pathogenesis involving multiple factors and clinical heterogeneity. The early diagnosis, subtype classification, and prognosis of RA remain challenging, and studies to develop minimally invasive or non-invasive biomarkers in the form of biofluid biopsies are becoming more common. Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) molecules are composed of long non-coding RNAs, small nucleolar RNAs, microRNAs, and circular RNAs, which play an essential role in disease onset and progression and can be used in the early diagnosis and prognosis of RA. In this review of the diagnostic and prognostic approaches to RA disease, we provide an overview of the current knowledge on the subject, focusing on recent advances in mRNA-ncRNA as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers from the biofluid to the tissue level.

Diagnoses Based on C-Reactive Protein Point-of-Care Tests

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an important part of the immune system's reaction to various pathological impulses such as bacterial infections, systemic inflammation, and internal organ failures. An increased CRP level serves to diagnose the mentioned pathological states. Both standard laboratory methods and simple point-of-care devices such as lateral flow tests and immunoturbidimetric assays serve for the instrumental diagnoses based on CRP. The current method for CRP has many flaws and limitations in its use. Biosensor and bioassay analytical devices are presently researched by many teams to provide more sensitive and better-suited tools for point-of-care tests of CRP in biological samples when compared to the standard methods. This review article is focused on mapping the diagnostical relevance of CRP, the applicability of the current analytical methods, and the recent innovations in the measurement of CRP level.