Relationship between urinary excretion of modified nucleosides and rheumatoid arthritis process

The levels of the five methylated nucleosides pseudouridine (psi-Urd),1-methyladenosine (1-MeAdo), 4 acetylcytidine (4-AcCyd), 1 methylinosine(1-Melno) and 7 methylguanosine (7-MeGuo) resulting from RNA degradationwere examined in the urine of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Of thesefive, 1-MeAdo and psi-Urd were correlated with the active phase of thedisease, while two others (4-AcCyd and 1-Melno), which require furtherevaluation, appeared to be linked to the prognosis of the disease. As RNAturnover is closely associated with cell proliferation, including that oflymphocytes in RA, there may be a hitherto unsuspected benefit in measuring1-MeAdo and psi-Urd as biochemical markers of RA disease activity.