ASSESSEMENT OF SERUM LEVEL OF CELLULAR COMMUNICATION NETWORK FACTOR 3 IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS AND ITS CORRELATION TO DISEASE ACTIVITY

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis [RA] is an autoimmune disease manifested by non-articular manifestations and articular ones that mostly affects synovial joints in a chronic manner. Aim of the work: The objective of this research was to evaluate the serum level of Cellular Communication Network Factor 3 [CCN3] in patients with RA and its association with activity of the disease. Patients and method: This case-control study involved ninety randomly selected cases over the age of eighteen, categorized into three groups: Group A consisted of thirty patients with rheumatoid arthritis in activity, Group B included thirty rheumatoid arthritis patients in remission, and Group C comprised thirty healthy individuals [Control]. All participants were collected from the Rheumatology & Rehabilitation outpatient clinic and inpatient at Bab El Sharia Al-Azhar University Hospital, Cairo. Results: CCN3 serum levels demonstrated a strong association with inflammatory markers and the Disease Activity Score [DAS28] in addition to with the Health Assessment Questionnaire [HAQ] score. The ROC curve analysis demonstrated a good discriminating power between active, remission and control groups with sensibility of 96.7% and an accuracy of 100% for distinguishing active from control groups. Conclusion: CCN3 serum levels show significant potential in differentiating between the active, remission, and control groups, indicating its promise as a biomarker for assessing activity of rheumatoid arthritis.