This is an early access version
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Department of Basic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad , Baghdad , Iraq
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Community Health Department , Community Health Department , Middle Technical University , Baghdad , Iraq
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Department of Microbiology, College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad , Baghdad , Iraq
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine , Nahrain University , Baghdad , Iraq
Caspase-1 (CASP1) is an integral part of the inflammasome, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a complex, progressive, chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease. The present study aimed to investigate two aspects of RA: i) the association of CASP1 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to RA; and ii) the prevalence of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement in patients with RA. This cross-sectional study included 90 participants: 60 patients with RA (20 newly diagnosed and untreated, 40 receiving combination therapy with methotrexate and etanercept) and 30 healthy controls. Three a priori-selected SNPs were screened: rs580253 (C>T), rs501192 (G>A), and rs56244680 (11-bp deletion TTCCATATTTA). Control variant allele frequencies were rs580253 T = 0.10, rs501192 A = 0.10, and rs56244680 del = 0.017. No significant differences in CASP1 genotype frequencies were observed among the treated, newly diagnosed, and control groups. Both components of the Helkimo index revealed significantly greater TMJ involvement in patients than in controls (both p <0.001). Subjective TMJ symptoms (Ai >0) were reported by 28/40 (70.0%) treated and 10/20 (50.0%) newly diagnosed patients, compared with 5/30 (16.7%) controls. Objective TMJ dysfunction (Di >0) was observed in 30/40 (75.0%) of treated and 14/20 (70.0%) of newly diagnosed patients, compared with only 4/30 (13.3%) of controls, all of whom presented with mild dysfunction. Notably, treated patients reported more severe subjective symptoms than newly diagnosed patients (p = 0.048), whereas objective dysfunction did not differ significantly between these groups (p = 0.303). These findings highlight the importance of clinical TMJ assessment in all patients with RA, regardless of genetic background or treatment status.
Conceptualization, W.L.A., A.H.A., B.H.A. and A.F.A.; Formal Analysis, W.L.A., A.H.A. and A.F.A.; Investigation, W.L.A., A.H.A., B.H.A. and A.F.A.; Methodology, W.L.A., A.H.A. and B.H.A.; Supervision, W.L.A., A.H.A., B.H.A. and A.F.A.; Validation, W.L.A. and A.H.A.; Writing – original draft, W.L.A., A.H.A., B.H.A. and A.F.A.; Data curation, A.H.A. and A.F.A.; Software, A.H.A., B.H.A. and A.F.A.; Writing – review & editing, A.H.A. and A.F.A.; Resources, A.F.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Data is available after reasonable request submitted to corresoponding author
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