Serum CA72-4 is specifically elevated in gout patients and predicts flares

Bai, Xueshan and Sun, Mingshu and He, Yuwei and Liu, Ruhua and Cui, Lingling and Wang, Can and Wan, Fang and Wang, Ming and Li, Xinde and Li, Hailong and Wu, Xinjiang and Li, Changgui (2020) Serum CA72-4 is specifically elevated in gout patients and predicts flares. Rheumatology, 59 (10). 2872–2880. ISSN 1462-0324

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Abstract

Objectives Serum CA72-4 levels are elevated in some gout patients but this has not been comprehensively described. The present study profiled serum CA72-4 expression in gout patients and verified the hypothesis that CA72-4 is a predictor of future flares in a prospective gout cohort. Methods To profile CA72-4 expression, a cross-sectional study was conducted in subjects with gouty arthritis, asymptomatic hyperuricaemia, four major arthritis types (OA, RA, SpA, septic arthritis) and healthy controls. A prospective gout cohort study was initiated to test the value of CA72-4 for predicting gout flares. During a 6-month follow-up, gout flares, CA72-4 levels and other gout-related clinical variables were observed at 1, 3 and 6 months. Results CA72-4 was highly expressed in patients with gouty arthritis [median (interquartile range) 4.55 (1.56, 32.64) U/ml] compared with hyperuricaemia patients [1.47 (0.87, 3.29) U/ml], healthy subjects [1.59 (0.99, 3.39) U/ml] and other arthritis patients [septic arthritis, 1.38 (0.99, 2.66) U/ml; RA, 1.58 (0.95, 3.37) U/ml; SpA, 1.56 (0.98, 2.85) U/ml; OA, 1.54 (0.94, 3.34) U/ml; P < 0.001, respectively]. Gout patients with frequent flares (twice or more in the last year) had higher CA72-4 levels than patients with fewer flares (fewer than twice in the last year). High CA72-4 level (>6.9 U/ml) was the strongest predictor of gout flares (hazard ratio = 3.889). Prophylactic colchicine was effective, especially for patients with high CA72-4 levels (P = 0.014). Conclusion CA72-4 levels were upregulated in gout patients who experienced frequent flares and CA72-4 was a useful biomarker to predict future flares.