Metabolomics in the development and progression of rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: A systematic review and analysis of data from several rheumatoid arthritis metabolomics studies attempts to determine which metabolites can be used as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and to explore the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: We searched all the subject-related documents published by EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from the database to the September 2019 publication. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted the data. QUADOMICS tool was used to assess the quality of studies included in this systematic review.

Results: A total of 10 studies met the inclusion criteria of systematic review, including 502 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 373 healthy people. Among them, the biological samples utilised for metabolomic analysis include: serum (n=8), urine (n=1) and synovial fluid (n=1). Some metabolites play an important role in rheumatoid arthritis: glucose, lactic acid, citric acid, leucine, methionine, isoleucine, valine, phenylalanine, threonine, serine, proline, glutamate, histidine, alanine, cholesterol, glycerol, and ribose.

Conclusions: Metabolomics provides important new opportunities for further research in rheumatoid arthritis and is expected to elucidate the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis that has not been fully understood before.

Keywords: Biomarker; Metabolomics; Rheumatoid arthritis; Systematic review.