Characterization and Serum Protein Profile of Rheumatoid Arthritis Subjects of Western Region of Mumbai

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) a degenerative, inflammatory autoimmune disorder if undiagnosed can lead to mortality and morbidity. The diagnosis of RA is based on the scoring criteria of the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification for serological and acute-phase reactant measurements. Post-translational modifications of proteins are one of the reasons for RA. So far Synovial fluid-based proteomic studies have been done for protein characterization and studies on serum or urine samples to assess RA association proteins were minimal. Thus, the current study aimed to compare the serum samples of healthy and affected subjects using Orbitrap LC-MS and gene Ontology, Reactome & KEGG pathways to develop a profile. A study of 500 symptomatic patients was screened and found 46.6 % positivity of which 85 % were women & 15 % were men. A comparison of proteins between normal and affected individuals showed 27 differentially expressed proteins (DEP). A detailed study of protein functions and pathways using gene ontology was conducted. The studies indicated the 7 down-regulated proteins (Apolipoprotein B (112), Complement C3(89), CDNA FLJ75416 (30), Apolipoprotein A-I (24), Apolipoprotein A-IV (22), Complement C5(21), Prothrombin (14), and Heparin cofactor 2) may have good impact to initiate the Rheumatism associated Arthritis. Further studies on these proteins may help in their use for diagnostic purposes.