A potential inflammatory role of Toll-like receptor-2 in psoriatic arthritis

Abstract

Introduction. Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is characterized by cellular infiltration and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and can be initiated by excessive activation of endosomal toll-like receptors (TLRs), particularly TLR2. Studying the TLR2 gene expression patterns can help choose a therapy for patients with psoriatic arthritis.Aim. To study the pattern of TLR2 gene expression in blood mononuclear cells of patients with psoriatic arthritis to assess its potential pro-inflammatory role.Materials and methods. Mononuclear cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of 31 patients with plaque psoriasis, 45 patients with psoriatic arthritis and 20 healthy controls. The expression level of the TNF gene was analysed using a real-time PCR method.Results and discussion. The comparative analysis of the expression levels of patients with psoriatic arthritis and healthy volunteers showed that the expression level of TNF in patients with psoriatic arthritis was 63 times higher than the expression level in healthy volunteers.Conclusions. A high level of TLR2 gene expression can indicate its role in the inflammatory process and become a marker of possible joint injury in patients with psoriasis.