{
  "abstract": "Introduction Bromodomain-4 (BRD4) plays a role in profibrosis. The inhibition of BRD4 acts as an alleviator of inflammation and fibroblast activity. We aimed to investigate serum BRD4 levels in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and its association with disease characteristics.Material and Methods This study was conducted between October 2024 and September 2025. Forty-five patients diagnosed with SSc according to the 2013 ACR/EULAR classification criteria (20 diffuse cutaneous (dc), 25 limited cutaneous (lc)) and 30 healthy volunteers were included. After enrolling patients, demographic and clinical data were recorded for all. Venous blood samples were collected after fasting, and sera were separated and stored at –80 °C. Subsequently, BRD4 levels were measured using a commercial ELISA kit according to the manufacturer’s protocol.Results There were 15 female and 5 male in the dcSSc group and 24 female and one male in the lcSSc group with a mean age of 50.1±14.5 and 52.8±14.6 years, respectively. There were no gender and age differences between the patient and control groups. The median (IQR) disease duration was 6 (9.5) years in the dc and 4 (6) in the lc groups (p=0.06). The median (IQR) modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) was 5 (8) in the dcSSc and 2 (2) in the lcSSc group (<0.001). Interstitial lung disease (ILD) (p=0.003) and reduced FVC % prediction (p=0.001), were significantly more frequent in the dcSSc group compared to the lcSSc group. The mean BRD4 level was highest in the diffuse SSc group with 402.9 ± 69.12 ng/L. Control and limited SSc groups had mean values of 304.8 ± 63.4 ng/L and 304.6 ± 64.5 ng/L, respectively. BRD4 levels were statistically significantly higher in the dcSSc group than the lcSSc group and healthy controls (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the lcSSc group and healthy controls (p>0.05). In logistic regression analysis, there was an association between serum levels of BRD4 and dcSSc subtype (OR=1.02, 95% CI=1.01-1.04, p=0.001). A significant correlation between BRD4 levels and disease duration in the dcSSc group was found (R=-0.480, p=0.032). According to ROC curve analysis, a cut-off value of 352.8 ng/L can determine patients with dcSSc from healthy controls with 70% specificity and sensitivity (AUC=0.828 (0.709-0.948), p<0.001).Conclusions The serum levels of BRD4 were higher in patients with dcSSc, mainly with shorter disease duration. BRD4 may be a beneficial biomarker in patients with SSc, primarily for detecting disease subtype. Further investigation is needed on this subject.Abstract P.032 Figure 1BRD4 levels in all study groups, *** Statistically significantAbstract P.032 Figure 2The ROC curve analysis for patients with diffuse SSc AUC: 0.828 (0.709-0.948)",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Erhan Kupcuk"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rheumatology, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Emine Busra Ata"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rheumatology, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Ezgi Cimen Gunes"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Omer Faruk Kirlangic"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Taner Ozgurtas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rheumatology, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Emre Tekgoz"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rheumatology, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Sedat Yilmaz"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Health Sciences Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rheumatology, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Seda Colak"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P.032 Evaluation of serum bromodomain-4 levels in patients with systemic sclerosis and its association with disease characteristics",
  "uid": "0caa3ada-445b-5c4e-b3fc-92344d12c536"
}