Investigation of MVK (mevalonate kinase) and NLRP12 (nod-like receptor protein 12) genes expression levels in rheumatoid arthritis patients who admitted to Duzce University Hospital

The aim of this study was to compare NLRP12 and MVK genes expression levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls, and to determine their clinical significance in patients with RA. Thirty-eight patients (25 women, 13 men) with RA according to American Collage of Rheumatology criteria and at least one year follow up, enrolled in this study and compared with twelve healthy controls (9 women, 3 men). To evaluate disease activity, physical function capacity was assessed with Turkish version of the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ). TSH, sedimentation rate, white blood cells, platelet, liver functions tests, C-reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor (RF) levels were determined by routine laboratory methods. Levels of expression of NLRP12 and MVK genes were calculated by quantitative RealTime PCR method considering RQ (relative quantification) values. There was no significant difference with respect to the age (p = 0.505) and gender (p = 0.728) between patients with RA and healthy controls. The mean disease period was 8.58 ±8.56 (1-33) years and the mean HAQ score was 0.81±0.73 (0.1-2.4) in patients with RA. There was a significant different NLRP12 levels or MVK levels (respectively p=0.000 ve p=0.001), but there was no correlation disease remmision values and routine laboratory values in patients with RA compared to healthy controls. Patients' NLRP12 expression levels were 5.72 times and MVK expression levels were 4.39 times greater than controls.There was no significant correlation between disease parameters and both NLRP12 and MVK expression levels (p>0.05). While there was a strong significant correlantion between NLRP12 and MVK ekspression levels in patients (p=0.000), no meaningful association was found in the control group (p=0.491). As a result, the expression levels of MVK and NLRP12 genes increased in RA patients, associated with each other and pathogenesis of the disease, and also we found out these genes can be used as a marker of early diagnosis of the disease. Because this is the first study on this topic, longitudinal studies including more participants are necessary to obtain more information. Key Words: Gene expression, MVK, NLRP12, Real Time PCR, Romatoid arthritis