To compare micro RNA (miRNA) expression: (a) between healthy individuals and early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) patients with and without erosion on high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) at baseline; and (b) to explore whether these miRNAs could inform a signature predictive of erosion progression despite treatment with conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs).
The second metacarpophalangeal head (MCP2) was scanned by HR-pQCT at baseline and 1 year in 117 ERA patients. We performed global profiling of 377 miRNAs in 10 ERA patients with and without erosion on HR-pQCT at baseline and six healthy controls. Validation of the miRNAs of interest were conducted using TaqMan
In the 377 screened miRNAs, 94 (60.6%) miRNAs were upregulated in patients with erosions, with 13 (8.4%) upregulated more than 2-fold. Sixty-one (39.4%) miRNAs were downregulated in patients with erosions, with 6 (3.9%) downregulated more than 2-fold. Expression of miR-143-3p, miR-145-5p and miR-99b-5p were significantly higher in the plasma of ERA patients with erosions compared with those without erosions. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the baseline expression of miR-99b-5p was an independent predictor of erosion progression at month 12 (Exp [B] = 4.257, 95% CI 1.178-15.386, P = 0.027).
Differential expressions of circulating miR-143-3p, miR-145-5p and miR-99b-5p in the plasma of ERA patients may characterize a severe form of the disease. MiR-99b-5p, in particular, may serve as a possible predictor for erosion progression.