Assessment of Serum and Salivary 14-3-3 ETA Protein in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Author(s): Ayoob Jasim Mohammed*, Ameena Ryhan Diajil and Fedan Ihsan Hassan
Abstract
Aim: The present study aimed to assess the salivary level of eta protein as a proinflammatory marker in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients and correlate its level in the serum.
Materials and Methods: This research comprised 84 individuals with RA (69) and healthy individuals (15). Serum and salivary 14-3-3 eta protein levels and other clinical measures in serum subjected to laboratory tests including [C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Rheumatoid Factor (RF) and Anti Cyclical Citrullinated Peptide Antibody (ACCP)] using quantitative Enzyme- Linked Immune Sorbent Assay (ELISA) technique. Receiver-Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves analysis was employed to determine 14-3-3 eta protein sensitivity and specificity. The relationship between serum and salivary 14-3-3 eta protein in RA patients with other clinical measures was evaluated using spearman’s correlation.
Results: (Mean ± SD; Median) of salivary 14-3-3 eta protein in RA patients was (3.800 ± 2.659; 2.948) which was highly significant compared with healthy subjects (1.563 ± 0.620; 1.390; P<0.001). ROC was drawn to make comparison between RA patients with controls, showed a significant (P<0.001)
ROC curve showed that the AUC of 0.943 (95% confidence interval: 0.852-1.000). At a cutoff of 1.8 ng/mL, salivary 14-3-3 eta protein had a sensitivity of 98.5% and specificity of 80%. While the serum 14-3-3 eta protein at the same cut off had a sensitivity of 95.6% and specificity of 66.7%. In addition, salivary levels of 14-3-3 eta protein significantly and correlated with the serum level (r=0.302, P<0.012). Also, the results of the correlation revealed that serum levels of 14-3-3 eta protein was significantly correlated with serum ACCP (r=0.597, P<0.001), serum C-reactive protein (r=0.628, P<0.001), serum Rheumatoid Factor (RF) (r=0.518, P<0.001), and 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS) (r=0.286, P<0.017) in RA patients.
Conclusions: Both serum and salivary 14-3-3 eta protein is significantly increased in patient with rheumatoid arthritis.