Increased expression and activity of aryl hydrocarbon receptor in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the significance of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through detecting the levels of AhR and its response gene cytochrome P4501 A1 (CYP1 A1) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).Methods Peripheral blood samples were collected from 35 patients with RA and 20 healthy subjects.The expression of AhR and CYP1A1 at mRNA level were detected by real-time PCR.The percentages of AhR-positive cells in PBMCs were detected by flow cytometry (FCM).The effects of leflunomide (LEF) on the expression of AhR and CYP1A1 were analyzed.The detailed clinical data of RA patients were recorded.The disease activity score (DAS) was calculated.Correlation analysis between AhR/CYP1A1 level and clinical data was conducted.Results (1) Both the expression of AhR at mRNA level and the percentage of AhR-positive cells in PBMCs from RA patients without LEF treatment were significantly higher than those from healthy subjects [(3.61±1.65) vs.(2.00±1.27),P=0.002; (34.21±11.30)％ vs.(18.83±7.32)％,P＜0.01].There were no statistically significant differences in the expression of AhR at mRNA level and the percentages of AhR-positive cells between patients with or without LEF treatment [(3.83 ± 1.62) vs.(3.61 ± 1.65),P =0.670 ; (36.69±10.61)％ vs.(34.21±11.30)％,P=0.462].(2) Non-LEF treatment group showed a higher relative expression of CYP1 A1 at mRNA level than that from control group [1.33 (0.08,7.86) vs.(0.62 ±0.29),z=-3.922,P＜0.01],but there was no statistical difference between LEF treatment group and non-LEF treatment group [(2.62±2.08) vs.1.33(0.08,7.86) z=-0.133,P=0.894].(3) Neither the expression of AhR and CYP1A1 at mRNA level nor the percentages of AhR-positive cells showed significant correlations with clinical data.Conclusion AhR was highly expressed in PBMCs from patients with RA,which might participate in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis.But the high expression of AhR did not reflect disease activity.Moreover,the treatment of LEF showed no significant influences on the expression of AhR and CYP1A1 in PBMCs from patients with RA.