Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar;37(6):e24876.
doi: 10.1002/jcla.24876. Epub 2023 Apr 1.

Low serum level of citrullinated histone H3 in patients with dermatomyositis

Wei Wang  1 , Wanchan Peng  1 , Siyu Wu  1
Affiliations

Low serum level of citrullinated histone H3 in patients with dermatomyositis

Wei Wang et al. J Clin Lab Anal. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed at analyzing the serum levels of citrullinated histone H3 (CitH3) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and their association with disease activity.

Methods: Serum CitH3 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in serum samples obtained from 93 DM patients and 56 healthy controls (HCs). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the discriminant capacity of CitH3 and other disease variables. The association between CitH3 and disease variables was analyzed using Pearson's rank correlation.

Results: Serum CitH3 level was significantly lower in DM patients than in HCs (p < 0.001). The ROC curve analysis revealed that CitH3 strongly discriminated DM patients from HCs (area under the curve [AUC], 0.86), and a combination of CitH3 and the ratio of neutrophil to lymphocyte counts (NLR) showed a greater diagnostic value (AUC, 0.92). Serum CitH3 levels were markedly lower in DM patients with normal muscle enzyme levels than in HCs (all p < 0.001), and when compared to an elevated group, the CitH3 levels were comparable (all p > 0.05). The CitH3 levels showed no difference between DM in active and remission groups. However, in a paired test with 18 hospitalized DM patients, the CitH3 levels were higher in remission state than in active state. Moreover, the CitH3 levels showed no correlation with disease variables that were associated with the disease activity of DM.

Conclusions: Serum CitH3 level may serve as a useful biochemical marker for screening patients with DM from HCs, while its role in monitoring DM disease activity requires further research.

Keywords: biochemical marker; citrullinated histone H3; dermatomyositis; disease activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Serum levels of citrullinated histone H3 (CitH3) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM). (A) CitH3 levels in DM patients and healthy controls (HCs). (B) The predictive values of CitH3 (area under the curve [AUC], 0.86), neutrophil (AUC 0.74), lymphocyte (AUC 0.75), the ratio of neutrophil to lymphocyte counts (NLR, AUC 0.87), alanine aminotransferase (ALT, AUC 0.70), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST, AUC 0.69) to distinguish DM and HCs. (C) The predictive values of the combination of CitH3 with neutrophil (AUC 0.90), lymphocyte (AUC 0.88), or NLR (AUC 0.92) to distinguish DM and HCs. (D) The predictive values of the combination of CitH3 with ALT (AUC 0.88) or AST (AUC 0.89) to distinguish DM and HCs. Each dot represents the CitH3 level of each individual. The horizontal lines represent the mean levels of CitH3 in each group. p values were calculated by Mann–Whitney U test, and a p value < 0.05 was used to indicate a statistically significant result.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Serum levels of citrullinated histone H3 (CitH3) in normal muscle enzymes group. (A) The serum CitH3 levels in creatine phosphokinase (CK) normal dermatomyositis (DM) group (0–200 uK/L), CK elevated DM group (>200 uK/L), and healthy controls (HCs). (B) The serum CitH3 levels in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) normal DM group (0–300 uK/L), LDH elevated DM group (>300 uK/L) and HCs. (C) The serum CitH3 levels in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normal DM group (0–40 uK/L), ALT elevated DM group (>40 uK/L), and HCs. (D) The serum CitH3 levels in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) normal DM group (0–40 uK/L), AST elevated DM group (>40 uK/L), and HCs. Each dot represents the CitH3 level of each individual. The horizontal lines represent the mean levels of CitH3 in each group. p values were calculated using Mann–Whitney U test, and p < 0.05 was used to indicate a statistically significant result.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Serum levels of citrullinated histone H3 (CitH3) in dermatomyositis (DM) patients with active disease and remission. (A) The level of CitH3 in DM patients with active disease and remission. (B) The level of CitH3 in paired active and remission DM patients (n = 18). Each dot represents the CitH3 level of each individual. The horizontal lines represent the mean levels of CitH3 in each group. p values were calculated using Mann–Whitney U and paired‐sample t tests. A p value of <0.05 was used to indicate a statistically significant result.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Dalakas MC, Sivakumar K. The immunopathologic and inflammatory differences between dermatomyositis, polymyositis and sporadic inclusion body myositis. Curr Opin Neurol. 1996;9(3):235‐239. - PubMed
    1. Luo YB, Mastaglia FL. Dermatomyositis, polymyositis and immune‐mediated necrotising myopathies. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2015;1852(4):622‐632. - PubMed
    1. Smoyer‐Tomic KE, Amato AA, Fernandes AW. Incidence and prevalence of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies among commercially insured, Medicare supplemental insured, and Medicaid enrolled populations: an administrative claims analysis. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012;13:103. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ohta A, Nagai M, Nishina M, Tomimitsu H, Kohsaka H. Prevalence and incidence of polymyositis and dermatomyositis in Japan. Mod Rheumatol. 2014;24(3):477‐480. - PubMed
    1. Cho SK, Kim H, Myung J, et al. Incidence and prevalence of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies in Korea: a nationwide population‐based study. J Korean Med Sci. 2019;34(8):e55. - PMC - PubMed
  NODES
admin 1
Association 2
twitter 2