The Journal of Practical Medicine >

2026 , Vol. 42 >Issue 2: 295 - 302

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2026.02.015

Feature Reports：Orthopedics

Expression and significance of circular RNA hsa_circ_0001707 in ankylosing spondylitis

  • Yao ZHOU ,
  • Qianbin DAI ,
  • Wei LONG ,
  • Kaixiang HU ,
  • Rui WU ,
  • Biqi FU
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  • 1.Department of Rheumatology and Immunology，the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University，Nanchang 330006，Jiangxi，China
    2.Department of Clinical Laboratory，the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University，Nanchang 330006，Jiangxi，China

Received date: 2025-09-25

  Revised date: 2025-11-01

  Accepted date: 2025-11-04

  Online published: 2026-01-22

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical value of circular RNAs （circRNAs） in the diagnosis and disease activity assessment of ankylosing spondylitis （AS） by measuring the expression levels of hsa_circ_0001707 and hsa_circ_0075522 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells （PBMCs） of AS patients. Methods A case?control study was conducted， enrolling 88 newly diagnosed AS patients and 80 healthy controls （HCs） with matched baseline characteristics. The expression of hsa_circ_0001707， hsa_circ_0075522， and HLA?B27 was detected via quantitative polymerase chain reaction （qPCR）. Disease activity was evaluated using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index （BASDAI）. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR）， C?reactive protein （CRP）， and complete blood count parameters were measured using automated analyzers. Novel inflammatory indices， including the lymphocyte?to?monocyte ratio （LMR）， neutrophil?to?lymphocyte ratio （NLR）， platelet?to?lymphocyte ratio （PLR）， derived NLR （dNLR）， and systemic immune?inflammation index （SII）， were calculated. Results circRNA analysis revealed significantly upregulated hsa_circ_0001707 and downregulated hsa_circ_0075522 in AS patients （both P < 0.05）. Receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve analysis demonstrated that hsa_circ_0001707 exhibited moderate diagnostic efficacy for distinguishing AS from HCs （AUC = 0.677， P < 0.001）， which significantly improved when combined with dNLR （AUC = 0.835， P < 0.001）. In disease activity assessment， hsa_circ_0001707 levels were significantly higher in active AS （BASDAI ≥ 4） than in inactive patients and correlated with CRP. Its discriminative power for active AS surpassed that of CRP （AUC： 0.684 vs. 0.674）. Correlation analysis further supported the potential role of hsa_circ_0001707 in AS pathogenesis， showing positive associations with inflammatory markers （NLR， SII， CRP） and BASDAI （ P < 0.05）， but negative correlations with lymphocyte percentage （L%） and LMR. In contrast， hsa_circ_0075522 showed no significant clinical correlations. Conclusions Hsa_circ_0001707 may serve as a promising peripheral blood biomarker for AS diagnosis and disease activity monitoring.

Key words： ankylosing spondylitis; circRNA hsa_circ_0001707; biomarker; disease activity; inflammation; diagnostic model

Cite this article

Yao ZHOU , Qianbin DAI , Wei LONG , Kaixiang HU , Rui WU , Biqi FU . Expression and significance of circular RNA hsa_circ_0001707 in ankylosing spondylitis[J]. The Journal of Practical Medicine, 2026 , 42(2) : 295 -302 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2026.02.015

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