Galectin-3 and interleukin-7 as potential serologic markers in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Aim of the work: To assess the level of serum galectin-3 and interleukin-7 (Il-7) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to study their association with disease activity as well as other disease parameters. Patients and methods: Serum samples from 66 RA patients and 20 matched controls were tested for galectin-3 and IL-7 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Disease activity was assessed using disease activity score (DAS28). Results: The mean age of the patients was 46.6 ± 12.02 years, mean disease duration was 7.5 ± 7.6 years and they were 61 females and 5 males. The mean DAS28 of the patients was 4.72 ± 1.77. Serum galectin-3 and IL-7 were higher in RA patients (7.7 ± 5.7 ng/ml and 9.03 ± 5.97 pg/ml) than the control (1.5 ± 0.8 ng/ml and 1.6 ± 1.1 pg/ml) (p < 0.001). Serum galectin-3 and IL-7 significantly correlated with age (r = 0.27, p = 0.03 and r = 25, p = 0.04), DAS28 (r = 0.64, p < 0.001 and r = 39, p = 0.001), as well as to each other (r = 0.48, p < 0.001). Serum galectin-3 significantly correlated with ESR (r = 0.29, p = 0.018) and significantly higher in those with fever (p = 0.017). At a cutoff of 2.94 ng/ml, serum galectin-3 showed 84.8% sensitivity and 100% specificity (p < 0.001) and at 2.71 pg/ml, serum IL7 showed a sensitivity of 92.4% and a specificity of 95% (p < 0.001) to diagnose RA. Conclusion: Serum galectin-3 and IL-7 were higher in patients than in controls and were increased with high disease activity making them promising biomarkers for RA. Both of them showed high diagnostic power for RA. This may provide further understanding of RA pathogenesis and suggest new therapeutic interventions.