H19 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (rs2251375): A Predictor of Increased Resting Heart Rate in RA Egyptian Patients: A Pilot Study

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune chronic inflammatory disease that could lead to multiple morbidities and mortalities with cardiovascular diseases being the commonest.In search for possible new therapeutic targets, long non coding RNA genes came into interest, particularly H19 which was proven to be a positive regulator of inflammation and a possible predictor of complications.Aim: To investigate the association between H19 SNP (rs2251375) genetic variants and clinical features of RA patients.Materials and Methods: 100 RA patients (74 females and 26 males) were recruited in this study.Clinical examination was done including heart rate and blood pressure measurements.RA-related laboratory investigations were done and patients' clinical data was recorded.Real-time PCR genotyping of (rs2251375) was done using TaqMan® MGB probes. Results:The heterozygous genotype CA was the most prevalent among the studied group (55%).There was a statistically significant association between the genotype CA and increased resting heart rate (p=0.04) and ESR (p=0.04).No association between (rs2251375) and blood pressure, CBC parameters, CDAI, RADAI-5 or HAQ (p>0.05). Conclusion:There is a significant association between H19 SNP (rs2251375) and increased resting heart rate and ESR, but there was no statistically significant association with other clinical and laboratory RA features.