Association of polymorphisms in pre-miRNA with inflammatory biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis in the Chinese Han population

The aim of this study was to detect the association between 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs2910164 G>C and rs3746444 T>C, in pre-miRNA (hsa-mir-146a and hsa-mir-499) and the chronic inflammation in the Chinese Han population with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Two hundred sixty-two Han Chinese patients with RA were recruited in this study. The SNPs were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism. C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and the plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) were measured. There was a significant difference in the levels of CRP and ESR among different genotypes in rs3746444 (p = 0.031 and p = 0.047, respectively). The heterozygote CT had significantly higher levels of CRP and ESR compared with homozygotes CC and TT. No significant association was observed between the SNP rs2910164 and the levels of CRP, ESR, IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β1 (all p > 0.05). The results of this study provided the first evidence that the SNP rs3746444 in pre-miR-499 could affect the inflammatory reaction in patients with RA. The findings were significant and might contribute to the clinical assessment of inflammatory activity, which in turn may influence therapeutic decision making.