The association of serum RANKL levels with disease activity and hematological parameters in Syrian patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rama Hussein; Imad Aboukhamis

doi:10.1016/j.bbrep.2022.101373

The association of serum RANKL levels with disease activity and hematological parameters in Syrian patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Biochem Biophys Rep. 2022 Oct 23:32:101373. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2022.101373. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Rama Hussein¹, Imad Aboukhamis^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Hematology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Damascus University, Syria.
² Department of Hematology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Damascus University, Syria.

Abstract

Our study aims to detect whether the serum RANKL could be a novel potential biomarker for activity and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It included fifty-eight of RA patients and thirty of equal age and sex matched controls. Disease activity was determined by using DAS28-ESR. Serum Levels of RANKL were assayed by ELISA and compared with parameters such as ESR, CRP, Rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA). The serum RANKL levels were higher in RA patients compared to controls. There was an increase in its levels mean among post-menopausal patients compared to post-menopausal healthy group. RANKL levels were also higher in ACPA positive patients than ACPA negative. Our study found a correlation between RANKL levels and some parameters: DAS28, ACPA, CRP, and symptom duration. There was a moderate inverse correlation between RANKL levels and BMD. By ROC curve, our results displayed that the best cut-off value of RANKL was 178.99 pg/ml (sensitivity 79.31%; specificity 90%) to differentiate between RA patients and controls. In conclusion, elevated serum RANKL can be used as an indicator of disease activity and a diagnostic new biomarker in patients with early RA.

Keywords: Disease activity; Parameters; Rheumatoid arthritis; Serum RANKL.