The Interplay between Circulating CCR7, MMP9, and Vitamin D in Rheumatoid Arthritis | ||||
International Journal of Applied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | ||||
Volume 2, Issue 2, June 2025, Page 20-38 PDF (767.55 K) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/ijabmb.2025.355686.1008 | ||||
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Authors | ||||
Naglaa Fathy Abozeid ![]() ![]() | ||||
1Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. | ||||
2Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt. | ||||
Abstract | ||||
Background: Vitamin D affects the lncRNA chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) expression levels in many inflammatory conditions. The collaboration between CCR7 and MMP9 has been studied in many cancers but not in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objective: To dissect the potential effect of 25-OH vitamin D deficiency on CCR7 and MMP9 in RA patients. Subjects and Methods: This study included 120 participants, 60 RA patients, and 60 healthy volunteers. History, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations were performed. The molecular analysis includes quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) for revealing CCR7 levels, while the ELISA technique was used to measure 25-OH vitamin D and MMP9 levels. Results: The present study revealed that the significant decrease in total 25-OH Vitamin D levels in RA patients was significantly correlated with the increased serum levels of the lncRNA CCR7 with fair sensitivity and high specificity. Combining 25-OH vitamin D with CCR7 to predict RA seems to have little effect. Similar findings were noted with MMP9. Conclusions: We promote serum CCR7 and MMP9 to be widely investigated as possible noninvasive biomarkers for RA. We suggested their expression could be modulated by controlling 25-OH vitamin D levels. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
RA; lncRNA; CCR7; Vitamin D; MMP9 | ||||
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