The correlation between SMAD3 and MIR 155 in Rheumatoid arthritis patients and athletes

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune and inflammatory condition, occurs when the immune system erroneously targets healthy cells, leading to inflammation in the affected regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of Mir-155 and SMAD3 in patients with RA, athletes with RA, and control groups. The study was carried out during the beginning of January 2024 and the end of June 2024. , The study was conducted at the Medical Rehabilitation Center in AL-Sader medical city. It included 50 patients, both female and male, diagnosed with RA by a specialist physician, along with 50 individuals without the condition and 50 athletes with RA. It comprised individuals of diverse ages. We collected 5 ml of blood from patients to assess the immunological parameter SMAD3 using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Additionally, we invested MIR-155 by using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). There was a significant positive correlation between MIR-155 with SMAD3 (r = 0.529, p < 0.001) in the RA group, and MIR-155 has a positive correlation with SMAD3 (r = 0.574, p < 0.001) in athletes, suggesting that it may play a part in boosting signaling pathways linked to fibrosis or repair. In conclusion, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between MIR-155 and SMAD3 among RA patients and athletes compared to healthy controls.