Potential Biomarker Identified for Interstitial Lung Disease in SSc

Researchers reported higher circulating C1q/TNF-Related Protein 9 (CTRP9) to be linked with worsening pulmonary function, while low CTRP9-identified patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) experienced stability, suggesting CTRP9 may be a potential biomarker in systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated ILD.

“While ILD is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in SSc, there remains a paucity of predictive markers to assess disease progression. We previously demonstrated that adipose tissue metabolism and adipokine homeostasis is dysregulated in SSc. We sought to determine the association and predictive ability of the novel adipokine CTRP9 for SSc-ILD,” the authors wrote.

Using the Northwestern Scleroderma Program Patient Registry and Biorepository, the retrospective longitudinal study measured CTRP9 serum levels in 110 patients with SSc, as well as clinical, demographic, and pulmonary function test data—collected in 12-month to 48-month intervals. The authors used the longitudinal trajectory of forced vital capacity percent predicted (FVC%) as a primary outcome indicator, and used a mixed model to compare lung function trajectories by varying CTRP9 groups.

“In cross-sectional analysis, elevated circulating CTRP9 was associated with significantly lower FVC% at baseline and 48 months. In mixed model analysis, high CTRP9 was associated with worse lung function, but not with a different trajectory. In contrast, low CTRP9 identified patients with stability of lung disease with reasonable accuracy. Latent trajectory analysis confirmed the association of lower CTRP9 with higher FVC%,” the authors concluded.

—Angelique Platas

Reference:

Yang MM, Balmert LC, Marangoni RC, et al. Circulating CTRP9 is associated with severity of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease Arthritis Care Res Published online July 12, 2021.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.24749