High YKL-40 serum levels and its expression in the muscle tissues of patients with antisynthetase syndrome

Autor(es)

Renata Casseb de Souza Carboni ^[1] ; Gustavo Luiz Behrens Pinto ^[2] ; Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Universidade de Sao Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP. Division of Rheumatology - Brasil

^[2] Universidade de Sao Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP. Division of Rheumatology - Brasil

^[3] Universidade de Sao Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP. Division of Rheumatology - Brasil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ADVANCES IN RHEUMATOLOGY; v. 61, 2021-07-19.

Resumo

Abstract Background: The protein chitinase-3-like-1 (YKL-40) is rarely analyzed in patients with myositis. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate YKL-40 serum levels; correlate them with laboratory and clinical parameters, disease status, and treatment schemes; and analyze the YKL-40 expression in the muscle tissues of patients with antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD). Methods: This cross-sectional single-center study included 64 adult patients with ASSD who were age-, gender-, and ethnicity-matched to 64 healthy control individuals. Their YKL-40 serum levels were analyzed using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit method, while YKL-40 expression in muscle tissues was analyzed using an immunohistochemical technique. Disease status was assessed using the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS) set scores. Results: The patients’ mean age was 44.8 ± 11.8 years, and median disease duration was 1.5 (0.0-4.0) years. These patients were predominantly female (82.8%) and Caucasian (73.4%). Most patients had stable disease. The median YKL-40 serum level was significantly higher in patients with ASSD when compared to the healthy individuals: 538.4 (363.4-853.1) pg/mL versus 270.0 (201.8-451.9) pg/mL, respectively; P < 0.001. However, YKL-40 serum levels did not correlate with any clinical, laboratory, disease status, or therapeutic parameters (P > 0.050), except tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) serum levels (Spearman’s correlation, rho = 0.382; P = 0.007). YKL-40 was highly expressed by inflammatory cells found in muscle biopsy specimens. Conclusions: High YKL-40 serum levels were observed in patients with ASSD and correlated positively with TNF-α serum levels. Moreover, YKL-40 was expressed by the inflammatory cells of the muscle tissue. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/09079-1 - Impacto de corticoterapia no processo inflamatório de biópsia muscular de dermatomiosite e polimiosite
• Beneficiário: Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular