PTEN gene expression in Patients with Ankylosing spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), the most common form of spondyloarthropathy, is a chronic, progressive multi-system inflammatory disorder characteristically affecting the sacroiliac joints and axial skeleton. The protein encoded by the PTEN gene which has a phosphatase activity, plays a key role in many of the signaling pathways, such as cell cycle regulation, cell migration, apoptosis and angiogenesis, therefore, it can be one of the candidate genes associated with autoimmune diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of PTEN gene in patients with AS and compare to healthy individuals in Iranian population.
The present case-control study was consisted of 50 patients with AS and 50 healthy controls recruited from those referred to Shohada Hospital, Tajrish,Tehran in 1394. The RNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes and subsequently the PTEN gene expression was investigated in both groups using real-time PCR.
The results showed that PTEN expression was significantly decreased in patients compared to control group (P=0.02).
The PTEN gene expression can be considered as parameter for screening and early diagnosis of individuals susceptible to this disease.