Expression profiling in RA disease pre and post anti-TNF treatment

The purpose of this study was (1) to identify novel genes involved in the pathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) disease, which may provide additional targets for therapeutic intervention and (2) to examine the molecular mechanisms associated with the response to anti-TNF treatment. Microarray analysis of LPS-stimulated whole blood from RA patients pre and post anti-TNF treatment was conducted. This study identified 818 transcripts, differentially expressed in RA patients pre-treatment compared to non-RA control samples. While a number of these genes were associated with RA in previous studies, validating our data, a number of novel genes with possible functions in RA disease were also identified. The number of transcripts (1051) significantly altered post anti-TNF treatment indicates the impact of anti-TNF therapy on systemic gene expression. A number of these transcripts were confirmed to be altered in a larger patient group and may represent potential genetic markers of a patients clinical response to anti-TNF treatment.

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