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oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/944592025-03-18T15:11:15Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

Lamana Domínguez, Amalia Ortiz, Ana Alvaro-Gracia, José Díaz-Sánchez, Belén Novalbos, Jesús García-Vicuña, Rosario González-Alvaro, Isodoro 2024-01-22T15:30:56Z 2024-01-22T15:30:56Z 2010 Amalia Lamana, Ana M Ortiz, José M Alvaro-Gracia, Belén Díaz-Sánchez, Jesús Novalbos, Rosario García-Vicuña, Isidoro González-Álvaro . Characterization of serum interleukin-15 in healthy volunteers and patients with early arthritis to assess its potential use as a biomarker. European Cytokine Network. 2010;21(3):186-194. doi:10.1684/ecn.2010.0203 1148-5493 10.1684/ecn.2010.0203 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94459 1952-4005 https://www.jle.com/10.1684/ecn.2010.0203 As interleukin-15 (IL-15) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis, we analysed the serum IL-15 (sIL-15) levels in healthy subjects and patients with early arthritis to establish a cut-off point that might serve to define elevated sIL-15. This is an initial step to determine whether sIL-15 has the potential for use as a biomarker for patients with early arthritis. The IL-15 concentration was measured in serum obtained from 161 healthy controls and from 174 patients with early arthritis, and the relationship between the expression of the two IL-15 mRNA variants and the sIL-15 levels was also assessed. In healthy controls, the median sIL-15 value was 0.83 [interquartile range (IQR) 0-8.68] pg/mL; there was no significant difference in the sIL-15 values according to gender [median level in males was 1.99 (IQR: 0-8.68) pg/mL and in females 0.50 (0-8.25) pg/mL: p = 0.821]. Moreover, sIL-15 levels did not correlate with age (r = 0.033, p = 0.685), and they did not display a clear circadian rhythm in healthy donors, with the median values for IL-15 close to zero at each time tested. In the light of these findings, we considered that sIL-15 was elevated if its concentration was above 20 pg/mL, since this cut-off point corresponded to the 90th percentile for this healthy population. We found that 30% of the patients with early arthritis had sIL-15 values > 20 pg/mL. The levels of sIL-15 did not correlate with disease duration in early arthritis patients, nor did they fluctuate with changes in disease activity over the follow-up period. In addition, the high level of sIL15 in patients was not associated with alterations in the alternative splicing of the IL-15 mRNA, favouring the variant that produces the protein with a long signal peptide for secretion. Serum IL-15 levels were increased in a subpopulation of patients with early arthritis, indicating that this measure may serve as a biomarker for this condition. Further studies will be necessary to determine whether the clinical evolution or response to treatment of patients with high sIL-15 levels differs. eng restricted access Characterization of serum interleukin-15 in healthy volunteers and patients with early arthritis to assess its potential use as a biomarker journal article