{"title":"Significant heightened methylation levels of <i>RUNX3</i> gene promoter in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.","authors":"Naeim Ehtesham, Samira Alesaeidi, Dorita Mohammad Zadeh, Mozhdeh Saghaei, Maryam Fakhri, Zahra Bayati, Emran Esmaeilzadeh, Meysam Mosallaei","doi":"10.1177/09612033241241850","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Researchers are actively investigating new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers that offer improved sensitivity and specificity for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). One area of interest is DNA methylation changes. Previous studies have shown a connection between the <i>RUNX3</i> gene dysfunction and SLE. In this study, the focus was on examining the methylation level of the <i>RUNX3</i> promoter in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of SLE patients and healthy individuals.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 80 individuals diagnosed with SLE from Iran, along with 77 healthy individuals, were included. The methylation levels of the <i>RUNX3</i> gene in the extracted DNA were evaluated using the MethyQESD method. To determine the diagnostic effectiveness of the <i>RUNX3</i> promoter methylation level, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The methylation of the RUNX3 promoter was found to be significantly higher in patients with SLE compared to healthy individuals (<i>p</i> < .001). This difference in methylation levels was observed between SLE patients and healthy individuals and between SLE patients with renal involvement and those without renal involvement (86.29 ± 10.30 vs 40.28 ± 24.21, <i>p</i> < .001). ROC analyses revealed that the methylation level of the RUNX3 promoter had a diagnostic power of 0.769 [95% CI (0.681-0.814)] for SLE. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between the RUNX3 methylation level and levels of creatinine and C4.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings of this study emphasize the potential use of <i>RUNX3</i> methylation levels in PBMCs of SLE patients as biomarkers for diagnosing the disease, predicting renal damage, and assessing disease activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":18044,"journal":{"name":"Lupus","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Lupus","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09612033241241850","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/3/21 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"RHEUMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Researchers are actively investigating new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers that offer improved sensitivity and specificity for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). One area of interest is DNA methylation changes. Previous studies have shown a connection between the RUNX3 gene dysfunction and SLE. In this study, the focus was on examining the methylation level of the RUNX3 promoter in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of SLE patients and healthy individuals.
Methods: A total of 80 individuals diagnosed with SLE from Iran, along with 77 healthy individuals, were included. The methylation levels of the RUNX3 gene in the extracted DNA were evaluated using the MethyQESD method. To determine the diagnostic effectiveness of the RUNX3 promoter methylation level, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated.
Results: The methylation of the RUNX3 promoter was found to be significantly higher in patients with SLE compared to healthy individuals (p < .001). This difference in methylation levels was observed between SLE patients and healthy individuals and between SLE patients with renal involvement and those without renal involvement (86.29 ± 10.30 vs 40.28 ± 24.21, p < .001). ROC analyses revealed that the methylation level of the RUNX3 promoter had a diagnostic power of 0.769 [95% CI (0.681-0.814)] for SLE. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between the RUNX3 methylation level and levels of creatinine and C4.
Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the potential use of RUNX3 methylation levels in PBMCs of SLE patients as biomarkers for diagnosing the disease, predicting renal damage, and assessing disease activity.
期刊介绍:
The only fully peer reviewed international journal devoted exclusively to lupus (and related disease) research. Lupus includes the most promising new clinical and laboratory-based studies from leading specialists in all lupus-related disciplines. Invaluable reading, with extended coverage, lupus-related disciplines include: Rheumatology, Dermatology, Immunology, Obstetrics, Psychiatry and Cardiovascular Research…