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Published on: May 16, 2025
Associations of genetic polymorphisms with clinical response to tocilizumab in Chinese rheumatoid arthritis patients
Wen Qin1, Meng-Qiao Wang2, Ting-Hui Wang1
1Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
Objective:
To examine the associations of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within interleukin-6 (IL6) and IL-6 receptor (IL6R) as well as several potential SNPs revealed in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with clinical response to tocilizumab (TCZ) in Chinese rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
Methods:
A total of 23 SNPs were genotyped in 68 RA patients receiving intravenous TCZ, who were prospectively followed for 6 months to determine the clinical response based on several criteria, including clinical disease activity index (CDAI) low disease activity (LDA) and remission, disease activity score in 28 joint counts - erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) LDA and remission, European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) good response and change in DAS28-ESR (ΔDAS28-ESR).
Results:
The patients were on average 51.16 (13.23) years, and 55 were female (80.88%) and 47 were bDMARD-naïve (69.12%). After adjusting potential confounding factors, IL6R rs35717427 and GALNT18 rs4910008 were significantly associated with CDAI LDA, and IL6R rs11265621, rs6690230 were significantly associated with EULAR good response, DAS28-ESR LDA and remission. In addition, IL6 2069840 was found to be significantly associated with DAS28-ESR remission, and rs10108210, CLEC2D rs1560011 and KCNMB1 rs703505 were found to be significantly associated with ΔDAS28-ESR.
Conclusion:
Genetic polymorphisms hold the potential as predictive biomarkers for clinical response to TCZ, which might aid in individualized treatment with TCZ in Chinese patients with RA.
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