PMID- 21356322 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20110909 LR - 20161018 IS - 1522-9653 (Electronic) IS - 1063-4584 (Linking) VI - 19 IP - 6 DP - 2011 Jun TI - Quantitative genetic study of amphiregulin and fractalkine circulating levels--potential markers of arthropathies. PG - 737-42 LID - 10.1016/j.joca.2011.02.013 [doi] AB - OBJECTIVE: Amphiregulin (AREG) and Fractalkine (FRACT), are involved in a variety of normal and pathological processes, and are both suggested to be relevant to joint degeneration. The aims of the present study included (1) testing association between circulating levels of these biomarkers and joint pathologies, (2) evaluation of the putative genetic and familial factors' effect on AREG and FRACT variability. DESIGN: The study was conducted in the family-based sample of 923 Caucasian individuals. Variance component analysis was used to assess contribution of genetic and environmental factors to variability of AREG and FRACT concentration. RESULTS: The mean levels of FRACT were significantly higher in the affected group with arthropathies (synovial joints osteoarthritis (OA) and disc degenerative disease, DDD) then in the control group (P<0.0004). Circulating AREG levels were higher in DDD (P=0.0272). Genetic factors constituted the main source of the interindividual differences of the AREG and FRACT levels in our sample, and explained 29.68% and 41.68% of the total variation, respectively. The phenotypic correlation between AREG and FRACT was substantial (r=0.55, P=0.0001) and was associated with both common genetic and environmental factors. Specifically, 30% of the phenotypic correlation between AREG and FRACT was due to common genetic effects. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are required to assess relevancy of FRACT to clinical diagnosis and prognosis of arthropathies, to investigate the mechanisms behind the observed phenotypic and genetic covariation among the studied biomarkers, and to explore specific genetic polymorphisms affecting AREG and FRACT variation. CI - Copyright (c) 2011 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. FAU - Leonov, A AU - Leonov A AD - Human Population Biology Research Unit, Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. FAU - Trofimov, S AU - Trofimov S FAU - Ermakov, S AU - Ermakov S FAU - Livshits, G AU - Livshits G LA - eng PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't DEP - 20110226 PL - England TA - Osteoarthritis Cartilage JT - Osteoarthritis and cartilage JID - 9305697 RN - 0 (AREG protein, human) RN - 0 (Amphiregulin) RN - 0 (Biomarkers) RN - 0 (Chemokine CX3CL1) RN - 0 (EGF Family of Proteins) RN - 0 (Glycoproteins) RN - 0 (Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins) SB - IM MH - Amphiregulin MH - Analysis of Variance MH - Biomarkers/metabolism MH - Chemokine CX3CL1/*genetics/*metabolism MH - EGF Family of Proteins MH - Female MH - Genetic Predisposition to Disease MH - Glycoproteins/*genetics/*metabolism MH - Humans MH - Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/*genetics/*metabolism MH - Joint Diseases/*genetics/*metabolism MH - Male MH - Osteoarthritis/*genetics/*metabolism MH - Polymorphism, Genetic EDAT- 2011/03/02 06:00 MHDA- 2011/09/10 06:00 CRDT- 2011/03/02 06:00 PHST- 2010/12/02 00:00 [received] PHST- 2011/02/17 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2011/02/18 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2011/03/02 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2011/03/02 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2011/09/10 06:00 [medline] AID - S1063-4584(11)00064-1 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.joca.2011.02.013 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2011 Jun;19(6):737-42. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2011.02.013. Epub 2011 Feb 26.