Joint remodeling outcome of serum levels of Dickkopf-1 (DKK1), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), and C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTXII) in rheumatoid arthritis

Naglaa K Idriss; Rania M Gamal; Marwa A Gaber; Eman H El-Hakeim; Nevin Hammam; Abeer M Ghandour; Marwa Mahmoud Abdelaziz; Samar H Goma

doi:10.5114/ceji.2020.94685

Joint remodeling outcome of serum levels of Dickkopf-1 (DKK1), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), and C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTXII) in rheumatoid arthritis

Cent Eur J Immunol. 2020;45(1):73-79. doi: 10.5114/ceji.2020.94685.

Authors

Naglaa K Idriss¹, Rania M Gamal², Marwa A Gaber¹, Eman H El-Hakeim², Nevin Hammam², Abeer M Ghandour², Marwa Mahmoud Abdelaziz², Samar H Goma²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Biochemistry, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
² Department of Rheumatology, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt.

Abstract

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most widespread chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease over the world. It is characterized by chronic proliferation of synovium, cartilage destruction, and periarticular erosion/bone loss. We investigated the serum levels of the C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II), Dickkopf-1 (DKK1), and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) in relationship to the disease activity.

Material and methods: Serum COMP, CTX-II, and DKK1 levels were measured in 63 RA patients and 50 person age and gender matched as a healthy controls by ELISA test. Disease activity score (DAS) were calculated.

Results: The mean level of and COMP and CTX-II were significantly higher in patients with RA than in healthy controls (5.71 ±7.04 vs. 2.70 ±1.31 ng/ml, and 0.45 ±0.27 vs. 0.23 ±0.16 ng/ml, respectively; p < 0.001). Also, DKK1 serum levels were significantly higher in patients with RA than in healthy controls (6970.68 ±7566.68 vs. 3276.96 ±1306.77 pg/m; p < 0.001). There was a positive significant correlation between DKK1 and swollen joint (r = 0.42, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the number of patients, gender, the duration of RA disease, DAS, and RF. Sensitivity was 58.7% and specificity was 85.7% at a cut-off point (> 3.6 ng/ml) for serum COMP in RA patients, while, sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 52.4% at a cut-off point (> 0.15 ng/ml) for serum CTX-II and sensitivity was 68.3% and specificity was 95.2 % at a cut-off point (> 4876 pg/ml) for serum DKK1.

Conclusions: Measurement of some serological biomarkers such as CTX-II, COMP, and DKK1 that reflect bone and cartilage destruction in RA patients could be used to indicate disease activity and early joint affection.

Keywords: C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II); Dickkopf-1 (DKK1); cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP); disease activity; rheumatoid arthritis (RA).