THU0103 Evaluation of serum Β-2 microglobulin levels and its relationship with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis. (12th June 2018) - Kelesoglu Dincer, A.B.
Abstract : Background: β−2 microglobulin (β2MG) is produced and secreted from T and B lymphocytes. In autoimmune diseases, due to lymphocyte activation and proliferation, serum β2MG level is expected to be higher than normal. In a few studies, increased serum and synovial fluid β2MG levels in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were reported. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of β2MG in peripheral blood in RA patients and to show its relationship with disease activity. Methods: In this study, 121 RA patients and 50 sex and age matched healthy controls were enrolled. Patients who had other inflammatory diseases or any kind of malignancy were excluded. Results: The mean age of RA patients (97 female and 24 male) were 55 years (±10.9 years) and mean disease duration was 9 years (min: 6 months, max: 42 years). The demographic data of patients and healthy controls are shown in table 1. There was a statistically significant difference between haemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels between two groups (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.001 respectively). Serum β2MG levels were higher in RA group than healthy controls.(p<0.001) When RA patients were grouped according to disease activity as remission to low disease activity(DAS28-ESR<3.2) (n=65) and moderate to severe disease activity(DAS28-ESR≥3.2) (n=56), the serum β2MG levels were higher in DAS28-ESR≥3.2 group than in DAS28-ESR<3.2 group (p=0.003). The difference between serum β2MG levels were statistically significant in low and high disease activity groups when grouped both according to DAS-ESR and DAS-CRP(p=0.003 and p=0.006, respectively). The seropositivity between two groups were similiar (p=0.385), although serum ESR, CRP levels and the rate of morning stiffness were significantly higher in high disease activity group. The results were shown in table 2. According to Spearmann correlation test, the serum β2MG level and DAS-ESR and DAS-CRP were positively correlated which were both statistically significant. (r=0.378, p<0.001 and r=0.324, p<0.001 respectively). Conclusions: Our results show that serum β2MG concentration increase in RA and is higher in active patients. It can be concluded that serum β2MG may be an appropriate parametre to monitor disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis. Disclosure of Interest: None declared