Significance of HMGB1 in the Evaluation of Disease Activity of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Its Relationship with RA-ILD

Objective:To investigate the clinical value of high mobility group box 1 protein in monitoring rheumatoid arthritis during treatment and the early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis-related interstitial lung disease.Methods:Blood samples of diagnosed patients with rheumatoid arthritis(25 cases of remission,56 cases in active stage)were collected to determinate the level of high mobility group box 1 protein,C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor.The healthy examinees 25 cases in the same period were treated as ones in the normal control group.Results:All the index levels in patients at active stage were higher than those in patients at the remission stage,and these levels in patients at the remission stage were higher than those in patients of the normal control group.The level of high mobility group box 1 protein in patients with rheumatoid arthritis had a positive correlation with erythrocyte sedimentation rate,C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor(P 0.01).The difference of high mobility group box 1 protein between active-stage patients of rheumatoid arthritis and patients with interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis was statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion:The increase of high mobility group box 1 protein expression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis has a certain degree of correlation with disease activity,with clinical research value in the early diagnosis of interstitial lung disease.