%0 Journal Article
%T Identification of blood biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis by transcript profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the rat collagen-induced arthritis model
%A Jianyong Shou
%A Christopher M Bull
%A Li Li
%A Hui-Rong Qian
%A Tao Wei
%A Shuang Luo
%A Douglas Perkins
%A Patricia J Solenberg
%A Seng-Lai Tan
%A Xin-Yi Chen
%A Neal W Roehm
%A Jeffrey A Wolos
%A Jude E Onyia
%J Arthritis Research & Therapy
%D 2005
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/ar1883
%X Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology that affects 0.5¨C1% of the population [1]. It is a polyarthritis characterized by inflammation, altered humoral and cellular immune responses, and synovial hyperplasia, leading to destruction and subsequent loss of function of multiple joints [1-4]. Although the exact pathogenesis of RA is not fully understood, the immune and inflammatory systems are intimately linked. Studies on affected joints focusing on cartilage, bone, and synovial tissues have yielded important insights into the mechanisms of disease initiation and progression. Initially, T cell recruitment and recognition of autologous or cross-reacting antigens in the joint produce a variety of mediators, some of which facilitate the development of autoantibodies that are detectable in the serum of RA patients [5]. The ensuing inflammatory responses, induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-¦Á and other proinflammatory cytokines, lead to synovial fibroblast hyperplasia, destruction of the extracellular matrix, and eventual damage to the affected joints [5,6]. Although there have been many studies of cells within the arthritic joint, the responses of the peripheral blood leukocytes are not well understood. An examination of the circulating lymphocytes may provide an important alternative perspective of the processes that underlie RA and complement local characterization of affected joints [7].Circulating leukocytes provide an important source for biomarker discovery for RA. Emerging high content approaches such as genomics and proteomics have radically changed the ways in which biomarkers are being studied [8-10]. The genomic approaches have been used to elucidate the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, including RA, and to identify novel drug targets for RA treatment [3,11-15]. In contrast to target tissue biopsy based approaches, which are often limited by restricted access to target tissues, profiling peripheral blood cells has e
%U http://arthritis-research.com/content/8/1/R28