Large‐Scale Characterization of Systemic Sclerosis Serum Protein Profile: Comparison to Peripheral Blood Cell Transcriptome and Correlations With Skin/Lung Fibrosis

作者：Chiara Bellocchi, Binwu Ying, Ellen Goldmuntz, Lynette Keyes‐Elstein, John Varga, Monique Hinchcliff, Marka A. Lyons, Peter A. McSweeney, Daniel E. Furst, Richard A. Nash, Leslie J. Crofford, Beverly Welch, Jonathan Goldin, Ashley Pinckney, Maureen D. Mayes, Keith M. Sullivan, Shervin Assassi · 发表于：Arthritis & Rheumatology · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1002/art.41570 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Systemic Sclerosis and Related Diseases、Inflammatory Myopathies and Dermatomyositis、Connective Tissue Growth Factor Research

Objective To provide a large‐scale assessment of serum protein dysregulation in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) and to investigate serum protein correlates of SSc fibrotic features. Methods We investigated serum protein profiles of 66 participants with dcSSc at baseline who were enrolled in the Scleroderma: Cyclophosphamide or Transplant Trial and 66 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects. A panel of 230 proteins, including several cytokines and chemokines, was investigated. Whole blood gene expression profiling in concomitantly collected samples was performed. Results Among the participants with dcSSc, the mean disease duration was 2.3 years. All had interstitial lung disease (ILD), and none were being treated with immunosuppressive agents at baseline. Ninety proteins were differentially expressed in participants with dcSSc compared to healthy control subjects. Similar to previous global skin transcript results, hepatic fibrosis, granulocyte and agranulocyte adhesion, and diapedesis were the top overrepresented pathways. Eighteen proteins correlated with the modified Rodnan skin thickness score (MRSS). Soluble epidermal growth factor receptor was significantly down‐regulated in dcSSc and showed the strongest negative correlation with the MRSS, being predictive of the score’s course over time, whereas α 1 ‐antichymotrypsin was significantly up‐regulated in dcSSc and showed the strongest positive correlation with the MRSS. Furthermore, higher levels of canc...