TCR-CD3ζ gene expression profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and correlation with disease activity

Objective To measure the T-cell receptor-CD3 zeta chain (TCR-CD3ζ) gene expression profile in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients and methods A case–control study on 150 consecutive RA patients diagnosed according to 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria and 150 matched healthy controls without a family history of RA or other autoimmune diseases. RA patients with other autoimmune diseases, viral hepatitis B or C, malignancy or hematological disorders were excluded from the study. All participants were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, assessment of disease activity (in RA patients) using Disease Activity Score-28 and Health Assessment Questionnaire, routine laboratory investigations, inflammatory marker levels, serological tests, as well as molecular analysis for TCR-CD3ζ mRNA expression by quantitative real-time PCR. Results TCR-CD3ζ gene expression was significantly lower in RA cases than in controls (P