How effective is serum FGL1 measurement in assessing disease activity: A cross-sectional study in rheumatoid...

In rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune inflammatory disease with multisystemic involvement, especially the joints, tracking disease activity is quite valuable in order to improve the quality of life of patients and to develop individualized treatment strategies. In this study, we evaluated the role of Fibrinogen-Like Protein 1 (FGL1), which has recently been shown to be associated with various rheumatological and autoimmune diseases, in disease diagnosis and activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

In this prospective study consisting of 108 RA patients divided into two groups as low disease activity-remission group (LDA) and moderate-high disease activity group (MHA) according to the Disease Activity Score 28-C-reactive protein score and 56 controls, serum FGL1 level was measured by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA).

Serum FGL1 level was found to be statistically significantly higher in RA patients compared to the control group, and in the MHA group compared to the LDA group. The mean FGL1 level was determined as 805.37 ng/ml in the LDA group, 1055.5 ng/ml in the MHA group and 652.31 ng/ml in the control group (p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between FGL1 level and CRP, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), CRP/Albumin levels.

Increased serum FGL1 levels were found to increase the likelihood of identifying patients with moderate-to-high disease activity RA. FGL1 is also effective in evaluating disease activity when used together with other inflammation markers, especially CRP/Albumin.