Urine autotaxin levels reflect the disease activity of sarcoidosis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 4372
• Main Authors: Murakami, Koji, Tamada, Tsutomu, Saigusa, Daisuke, Miyauchi, Eisaku, Nara, Masayuki, Ichinose, Masakazu, Kurano, Makoto, Yatomi, Yutaka, Sugiura, Hisatoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14.03.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/45; 692/53; 692/699; Biomarkers; Body Fluids; Disease; Enzymes; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Inflammatory diseases; Lysophospholipids; multidisciplinary; Patients; Phosphatidylserine; Phospholipase A1; Phospholipases A1; Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; Sarcoidosis; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Urine
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08388-6

Since the clinical outcome of patients with sarcoidosis is still unpredictable, a good prognostic biomarker is necessary. Autotaxin (ATX) and phosphatidylserine-specific phospholipase A1 (PS-PLA1) function as main enzymes to produce lysophospholipids (LPLs), and these enzymes are attracting attention as useful biomarkers for several chronic inflammatory diseases. Here, we investigated the relationships between LPLs-producing enzymes and the disease activity of sarcoidosis. In total, 157 patients with sarcoidosis (active state, 51%) were consecutively enrolled. Using plasma or urine specimens, we measured the values of LPLs-producing enzymes. Urine ATX (U-ATX) levels were significantly lower in the active state compared to those in the inactive state, while the plasma ATX (P-ATX) and PS-PLA1 levels showed no significant difference between these two states. Concerning the comparison with existing clinical biomarkers for sarcoidosis, U-ATX showed a weak negative correlation to ACE, P-ATX a weak positive correlation to both ACE and sIL-2R, and PS-PLA1 a weak positive one to sIL-2R. Notably, only the U-ATX levels inversely fluctuated depending on the status of disease activity whether OCS had been used or not. These findings suggest that U-ATX is likely to be a novel and useful molecule for assessing the disease activity of sarcoidosis.