autoimmune rheumatic diseases, circulating methylation levels, CXCR5, DNA methylation, inflammation, Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607

ABSTRACT Objective To assess CXC chemokine receptor 5 (CXCR5) circulating DNA methylation differences in autoimmune rheumatic diseases and their relation with clinical features. Methods Targeted methylation sequencing was performed using peripheral blood from 164 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 30 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 30 ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 30 psoriatic arthritis (PsA), 24 Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients, and 30 healthy controls (HC). Results Significant differences in CXCR5 cg19599951 methylation were found between RA and HC, as well as AS and SLE. RA patients exhibited higher methylation than HC and AS (p