Aim of the work: To study peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARc)
expression levels in the peripheral monocytes from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to clarify
its relation with disease activity, functional disability and drug therapy.
Patients and methods: Thirty RA patients (Group 1) were divided into two subgroups: Group 1A:
patients with moderate to high disease activity (n= 15); Group 1B: patients in remission or with low
disease activity (n= 15). Thirty healthy volunteers were included as control group. Disease activity
score in 28 joints (DAS-28) and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) were assessed in patients.
PPARc gene expression levels were assessed by real-time PCR in peripheral blood monocytes.
Results: The mean fold increase in monocyte PPARc expression levels was significantly higher
(p< 0.001) in patients (6.87± 0.9) compared to control, being significantly higher (p< 0.001) in
patients with remission or low activity (Group 1B) (7.6 ± 0.63) than patients with active RA (Group
1A) (6.13 ± 0.52). In RA patients, monocyte PPARc expression levels showed significant negative
correlations with morning stiffness durations, total joint count, visual analog scale for pain, DAS-28
andHAQ (p>0.001) and with swelling joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and platelet count
(p