Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39806325›Full record

ArticleBMC pulmonary medicine2025

An exploratory analysis of differences in serum protein expression by sex in patients with systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease.

Giuliana Cerro-Chiang, Matthew Ayres, Alejandro Rivas, Sarah J Parker, Mitra Mastali, Peter Chen, Jennifer E Van Eyk, Paul J Wolters, Francesco Boin, Tanzira Zaman

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Article in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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.

Giuliana Cerro-ChiangSection of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine- Yale School of Medicine, Lippard Laboratory of Clinical Investigation (LLCI), 15 York Street, Rm 101 E, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA. Giuliana.cerrochiang@yale.edu.
Matthew AyresAdvanced Clinical Biosystems Institute Biomedical Sciences Cedars, Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Alejandro RivasAdvanced Clinical Biosystems Institute Biomedical Sciences Cedars, Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sarah J ParkerAdvanced Clinical Biosystems Institute Biomedical Sciences Cedars, Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Mitra MastaliAdvanced Clinical Biosystems Institute Biomedical Sciences Cedars, Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Peter ChenDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Jennifer E Van EykAdvanced Clinical Biosystems Institute Biomedical Sciences Cedars, Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Paul J WoltersDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Francesco BoinDivision of Rheumatology, Kao Autoimmunity Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Tanzira ZamanDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSystemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare connective tissue disease, frequently affecting the skin, lungs, and pulmonary vasculature. Approximately 30-50% of SSc patients develop interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD), with 30-35% of related deaths attributed to it. Even though men are less likely to develop systemic sclerosis, they have a higher incidence of SSc-ILD than women, and they tend to develop it at a younger age with a higher mortality rate. Sex differences in protein expression in the blood of patients with SSc-ILD have not been reported to date. We aimed to identify sex differences in serum protein expression between men and women with SSc-ILD.

methodsSerum specimens of patients with SSc-ILD underwent dual mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. The association between protein biomarkers and sex was assessed through logistic regression. Time to event analysis was performed to determine any differences in the time to FVC decline of > 5% and the proportion of subjects who experienced FVC decline of > 5% by sex over the total period of observation. The association between biomarkers and sex was assessed through logistic regression. For proteins that were dichotomized, chi-squared testing was used. Multivariable regression models adjusting for meaningful clinical variables were also performed.

resultsThe cohort consisted of 211 subjects, 162 women and 47 men with a median follow-up of 3.52 years. No significant sex differences were found in the time to FVC decline of > 5% or > 10%. Among the 704 proteins identified, forty differed significantly between sexes. After adjusting for multiple testing, Autotaxin remained significantly higher in women. Autotaxin, known to activate lysophosphatidic acid and promote fibrosis, suggests a potential role in modulating fibrotic processes in SSc-ILD.

conclusionsThis study is the first to report sex-specific serum protein differences in patients with SSc-ILD, with Autotaxin remaining significantly different after adjusting for multiple testing. These proteins could influence disease progression and treatment response and underscore the importance of personalized therapeutic strategies and further research into sex-related molecular pathways in SSc-ILD. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

Indexed as

Blood ProteinsLung Diseases, InterstitialScleroderma, SystemicAdultAgedBiomarkersChromatography, LiquidFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsMaleMiddle AgedPhosphoric Diester HydrolasesSex FactorsTandem Mass SpectrometryBiomarkersBlood ProteinsPhosphoric Diester HydrolasesBiomarkersDisease progressionInterstitial lung diseaseSexSystemic sclerosis

Identifiers

PMID39806325
PMCPMC11727626

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.