The Role of Galectin-3 and Interleukin-22

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that primarily affects small joints. While there are currently established biomarkers that can be used to diagnose RA, such as RF and ACPA, there is still a need for new biomarkers to improve the accuracy and early detection of RA because it is a complex and heterogeneous disease, with a wide range of symptoms and disease courses. This research aimed to study the diagnostic value of galectin-3 and interleukin-22 as ideal biomarkers for the diagnosis of RA , in addition to study their roles in the evaluation of RA activity. Levels of gal-3 and IL-22 were positively correlated with the disease activity indices CDAI, DAS-28 ESR, and DAS-28 CRP. Regarding the diagnostic values of gal-3 and IL-22 in the detection of RA, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves revealed that the best diagnostic cut-off value of urinary gal-3 was ≥ 2.4 ng/ml, with 89% sensitivity, 91% specificity, and an area under the curve (AUC) = 0. 893. While the best diagnostic cut-off value of IL-22 was ≥ 26.9 pg/ml, with 83% sensitivity, 75% specificity, and an area under the curve (AUC) = 0.838.