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Serum C-reactive protein level but not its gene polymorphism is associated with Takayasu arteritis

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Abstract

Takayasu arteritis (TA) patients with active disease often have elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, which usually decline with the disease remission. The serum CRP concentration has been showed to be related to CRP gene polymorphisms in previous studies. The present study aims to investigate the associations of serum level of CRP and CRP polymorphisms with TA. A total of 178 unrelated Chinese Han TA patients and 229 unrelated Chinese Han individuals without documented disease were enrolled in our studies. After a systemic search in the HapMap database, four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected, namely, rs1800947, rs3093077, rs1205, and rs2808630. The ligase detection reaction (LDR) was used in genotyping. CRP concentrations were determined using turbidimetric immunoassay. Genotype frequencies and allele frequencies of CRP variations were similar between TA patients and controls. CRP haplotype frequencies in patients were not significantly different from those of controls. No significant association between serum CRP concentrations and genotypes was found. Moreover, no association was found in CRP concentration between patients with types I, II, and III TA or between patients with or without pulmonary involvement. By contrast, serum CRP concentration was directly correlated with disease severity. In conclusion, CRP polymorphisms were not associated with TA susceptibility or serum CRP levels in the Chinese Han population. However, higher CRP level was correlated with a more serious disease status, which implies that CRP possibly contributes to the progression of TA.

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Funding source

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81170285) and the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (grant no. 20101106110012).

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Correspondence to Aimin Dang.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplement Table 1

Classification of Disease Severity (PDF 52 kb)

Supplement Table 2

Haplotypes frequencies of CRP gene in Cases and Controls (PDF 11 kb)

Supplement Table 3

Association between Disease Severity and rs1205 (PDF 9 kb)

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Cheng, Y., Dang, A., Lv, N. et al. Serum C-reactive protein level but not its gene polymorphism is associated with Takayasu arteritis. Clin Rheumatol 35, 673–678 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-014-2674-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-014-2674-3

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