TY - JOUR T1 - Relationship between vitamin D plasma level and Foxp3 gene expression among rheumatoid arthritis patients TT - بررسی رابطه ی سطح پلاسمایی ویتامین D با میزان بیان ژن Foxp3 در بیماران مبتلا به آرتریت روماتوئید JF - HBI_Journals JO - HBI_Journals VL - 22 IS - 6 UR - http://sjku.muk.ac.ir/article-1-3753-en.html Y1 - 2018 SP - 40 EP - 48 KW - Vitamin D KW - Foxp3 KW - Rheumatoid arthritis. N2 - Background and Aim: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease. It seems that the function of regulatory T cells (Tregs) is compromised in RA. Foxp3 is a critical transcription factor of these cells. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of vitamin D plasma level with Foxp3 gene expression in the patients with RA. Material and Methods: 18 untreated RA patients and 41 healthy people participated in this study. Plasma levels of vitamin D were measured by competitive ELISA method. Foxp3 gene expression was also determined by using realtime PCR technique. Results: The expression of Foxp3 gene was significantly lower in RA patients compared to that in the healthy controls (p<0.001) .There was no significant relationship between vitamin D plasma levels with the rate of Foxp3 gene expression. Conclusion: We found low levels of vitamin D could not affect the expression of Foxp3 gene. It seems that vitamin D deficiency cannot be considered as an effective environmental factor in the pathogenesis of RA. Keywords: Vitamin D, Foxp3, Rheumatoid arthritis. Received: Jul 2, 2017 Accepted: Sep 24, 2017 M3 10.22102/22.6.40 ER -