Novel DNA microarray chip predicts functional impairment and remission in rheumatoid...(array also accurately predicted remissio...),Health

A total of 632 patients fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for RA, with disease onset after 1990 and at least five-year disease duration, were analysed. Baseline variables were recorded including age, gender, smoking, joint counts, acute phase reactants and the presence of anti-CCP antibodies and rheumatoid factor. Remission was defined as absence of joint symptoms without disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy. Severe disability was defined as an HAQ score of 2 or more. Genetic association analyses were performed with HelixTree. Multivariate logistic regression models and ROC curves, to determine sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratio, were developed with SPSS software.

Predictive models were initially developed for 375 patients and further validated on 257 RA patients. More than three quarters of the studied cases (77%) were females, and had with 10.93.6 years' disease duration.

A DNA array (or DNA chip) is a technique commonly used in molecular biology where tiny spots of specific DNA are arranged on a solid substance (normally glass). This technique can be used to screen thousands of genes in a single test, for their association with a particular disease or a specific clinical phenotype. In this study, a DNA array was developed and used to identify SNPs that can help to predict the course of RA. Moreover, the study provides rheumatologists with a tool to predict RA aggressiveness, based on a weighted combination of clinical and genetic parameters.

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