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Arthritis Research & Therapy
Published in: Arthritis Research & Therapy 1/2020

01-12-2020 | Systemic Sclerosis | Research article

Increased serum calpain activity is associated with HMGB1 levels in systemic sclerosis

Authors: Ji-Na Zheng, Yang Li, Yue-Mei Yan, Yong Yu, Wen-Qi Shao, Qiang Wang

Published in: Arthritis Research & Therapy | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

Background

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) or scleroderma is an intractable autoimmune disorder that affects multiple organs. The objectives were to investigate clinical correlations of serum calpain activity and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) levels with immunological and clinical traits.

Methods

A total of 31 patients with SSc, 20 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects (HC), and 10 patients with other connective tissue diseases (CTD) were recruited in the study. We measured serum calpain activity and HMGB1 levels and analyzed the datasets (GSE40839, GSE48149, GSE76808, GSE81292, GSE33463, and GSE58095) from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to explore the potential mechanism by which calpain exerts its function through bioinformatics methods.

Results

Serum calpain activity was significantly increased in patients with SSc compared with those in HC and in patients with CTD and was correlated with serum HMGB1 levels, modified Rodnan skin score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mean platelet volume, and plateletcrit. Notably, serum calpain activity and HMGB1 levels in SSc patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) were significantly higher than those in SSc patients without ILD. Serum calpain activity and HMGB1 levels could be the independent risk factors for SSc-ILD and novel biomarkers in patients with SSc.

Conclusion

This is the first study that reports increased serum calpain activity and the correlation between calpain and HMGB1 in patients with SSc or SSc-ILD. The serum calpain activity and HMGB1 levels may serve as measures of ILD in patients with SSc. Also, calpain and HMGB1 could be potential therapeutic targets for patients with SSc or SSc-ILD in the future.
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Metadata
Title
Increased serum calpain activity is associated with HMGB1 levels in systemic sclerosis
Authors
Ji-Na Zheng
Yang Li
Yue-Mei Yan
Yong Yu
Wen-Qi Shao
Qiang Wang
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Arthritis Research & Therapy / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1478-6362
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-020-02195-y

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