The diagnostic significance of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (G6PI) antigen and anti-G6PI antibody in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Objective: To investigate whether glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (G6PI) antigen and anti-G6PI antibodies could be applied for the clinical diagnostic markers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its associations with RA activity states. Methods: The levels of G6PI antigens and anti-G6PI Abs in sera from 176 RA patients in different states, 35 non-RA patients and 100 healthy donors and in synovia fluids from 33 patients and 11 non-RA patients were measured by ELISA. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of G6PI antigens in the RA patients were 75.0% and 93.3%, respectively. The levels of serum G6PI antigens in 176 RA patients were significantly higher than non-RA patients and the health controls. Especially, there was a significant difference between the active phase and the inactive phase in G6PI antigens levels. The levels of G6PI antigens in synovia fluid were also significantly higher in RA groups than in non-RA patients. With the values of the anti-G6PI Abs in sera, there were no marked differences among RA, non-RA patients and health controls. Also, there was no significant difference between the active phase and the inactive phase in RA patients. However, there were no significant differences of G6PI and anti-G6PI between RA patients and health controls in synovial fluid. Conclusions: G6PI is highly correlated with the activity states of RA, and could be applied for a clinical biomarker with high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of RA.