Gene expression of Interleukin-18 in rheumatoid arthritis patients on disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy

Interleukin-18 expression in rheumatoid arthritis

  • Sabeen Khalid
  • Muhammad Javad Yousaf
  • Amir Rashid
  • Saleem Ahmad Khan
Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Interleukin-18, Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, Gene expression

Abstract

Background & Objectives: The hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis is the inflammation that is mediated by the macrophages and monocytes that cause release of pro-inflammatory cytokines like interleukin-18. It is highly expressed in serum of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and has a positive association with disease activity. The aim of this study was to analyze the gene expression of interleukin-18 in rheumatoid arthritis patients on disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy.

Methods: The cross sectional comparative study is conducted at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Research in Experimental and Applied Medicine (CREAM-1Lab), Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, in collaboration with Rheumatology Department, Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. Study was conducted on two groups consisting of Group-I of rheumatoid arthritis patients on diseases modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and control Group-II comprising of normal healthy individuals. Non-probability purposive sampling was done from patients and controls. The duration of study was one year i-e from November 2015 to November 2016. Relative quantification of gene expression of interleukin-18 was done by Real time PCR using ∆∆CT method.

Results: Expression analysis for interleukin-18 showed down regulation of gene in rheumatoid arthritis patients as compared to controls.

Conclusion: Interleukin-18 gene shows down regulation in rheumatoid arthritis patients on disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs therapy.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.1070

How to cite this:
Khalid S, Yousaf MJ, Rashid A, Khan SA. Gene expression of Interleukin-18 in rheumatoid arthritis patients on disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(3):802-806. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.1070

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published
2019-05-22
How to Cite
Khalid, S., Yousaf, M. J., Rashid, A., & Khan, S. A. (2019). Gene expression of Interleukin-18 in rheumatoid arthritis patients on disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy: Interleukin-18 expression in rheumatoid arthritis. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.1070
Section
Original Articles