Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36850003›Full record

ArticleArthritis research & therapy2023

TGF-β is elevated in hyperuricemic individuals and mediates urate-induced hyperinflammatory phenotype in human mononuclear cells.

Viola Klück, Georgiana Cabău, Linda Mies, Femke Bukkems, Liesbeth van Emst, René Bakker, Arjan van Caam, HINT consortium, Tania O Crişan, Leo A B Joosten

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  5. Novel Dietary Inflammatory Score and Risk of Incident CKD.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Viola Klück *Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Georgiana Cabău *Department of Medical Genetics, "Iuliu Haţieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj Napoca, Romania.
Linda MiesDepartment of Internal Medicine, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Femke BukkemsDepartement of Rheumatology, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Liesbeth van EmstDepartment of Internal Medicine, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
René BakkerDepartement of Rheumatology, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Arjan van CaamDepartement of Rheumatology, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
HINT consortium
Tania O CrişanDepartment of Medical Genetics, "Iuliu Haţieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj Napoca, Romania.
Leo A B JoostenDepartment of Internal Medicine, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Leo.Joosten@radboudumc.nl.
Radboud University Nijmegen · NLIuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy · RO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSoluble urate leads to a pro-inflammatory phenotype in human monocytes characterized by increased production of IL-1β and downregulation of IL-1 receptor antagonist, the mechanism of which remains to be fully elucidated. Previous transcriptomic data identified differential expression of genes in the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway in monocytes exposed to urate in vitro. In this study, we explore the role of TGF-β in urate-induced hyperinflammation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

methodsTGF-β mRNA in unstimulated PBMCs and protein levels in plasma were measured in individuals with normouricemia, hyperuricemia and gout. For in vitro validation, PBMCs of healthy volunteers were isolated and treated with a dose ranging concentration of urate for assessment of mRNA and pSMAD2. Urate and TGF-β priming experiments were performed with three inhibitors of TGF-β signalling: SB-505124, 5Z-7-oxozeaenol and a blocking antibody against TGF-β receptor II.

resultsTGF-β mRNA levels were elevated in gout patients compared to healthy controls. TGF-β-LAP levels in serum were significantly higher in individuals with hyperuricemia compared to controls. In both cases, TGF-β correlated positively to serum urate levels. In vitro, urate exposure of PBMCs did not directly induce TGF-β but did enhance SMAD2 phosphorylation. The urate-induced pro-inflammatory phenotype of monocytes was partly reversed by blocking TGF-β.

conclusionsTGF-β is elevated in individuals with hyperuricemia and correlated to serum urate concentrations. In addition, the urate-induced pro-inflammatory phenotype in human monocytes is mediated by TGF-β signalling. Future studies are warranted to explore the intracellular pathways involved and to assess the clinical significance of urate-TGF-β relation.

Indexed as

GoutHyperuricemiaHumansLeukocytesLeukocytes, MononuclearTransforming Growth Factor betaUric AcidTransforming Growth Factor betaUric AcidHyperuricemiaInflammationMononuclear leukocytesTGF-β

Identifiers

PMID36850003
PMCPMC9969669
OpenAlexW4322501456

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.