Associations between plasma metabolism associated proteins and future development of giant cell arteritis: results from a prospective study.

Wadström K, Jacobsson LTH, Mohammad AJ, Warrington KJ, Matteson EL, Jakobsson ME, Turesson C

Rheumatology (Oxford) - (-) - [2024-02-03; online 2024-02-03]

To investigate the relation between biomarkers associated with metabolism and subsequent development of giant cell arteritis (GCA). Participants in the population-based Malmö Diet Cancer Study (MDCS; N = 30447), who were subsequently diagnosed with GCA, were identified in a structured process. Matched GCA-free controls were selected from the study cohort. Baseline plasma samples were analyzed using the antibody-based OLINK proteomics metabolism panel (92 metabolic proteins). Analyses were pre-designated as hypothesis-driven or hypothesis-generating. In the latter, principal component analysis was used to identify groups of proteins that explain the variance in the proteome. There were 95 cases with a confirmed incident diagnosis of GCA (median 12.0 years after inclusion). Among biomarkers with a priori hypotheses, Adhesion G protein-coupled receptor E2 (ADGRE2) was positively associated (odds ratio (OR) per standard deviation (SD) 1.67; 95% CI 1.08-2.57), and Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 1 (FBP1) negatively associated (OR per SD 0.59; 95% CI 0.35-0.99) with GCA. In particular, ADGRE2 levels were associated with subsequent GCA in the subset sampled <8.5 years before diagnosis. For meteorin-like protein (Metrnl), the highest impact on the risk of GCA was observed in those sampled closest to diagnosis with a decreasing trend with longer time to GCA (p= 0.03). In the hypothesis generating analyses, elevated levels of receptor tyrosine-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) were associated with subsequent GCA. Biomarkers identified years before clinical diagnosis indicated a protective role of gluconeogenesis (FBP1) and an association with macrophage activation (ADGRE2 and Metrnl) and proinflammatory signals (ROR1) for development of GCA.

Affinity Proteomics Uppsala [Service]

PubMed 38310345

DOI 10.1093/rheumatology/keae073

Crossref 10.1093/rheumatology/keae073

pii: 7600433