{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,19]],"date-time":"2026-05-19T06:57:39Z","timestamp":1779173859367,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]],"date-time":"2025-01-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735862400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100016991","name":"Universidad de Guadalajara","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100016991","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Studies have noted the connection between <jats:italic>Mycobacterium avium<\/jats:italic> subspecies <jats:italic>paratuberculosis<\/jats:italic> (MAP) and autoimmunity. MAP is an intracellular pathogen that infects and multiplies in macrophages. To overcome the hostile environment elicited by the macrophage, MAP secretes a battery of virulence factors to neutralize the toxic effects of the macrophage. One of the virulence factors is the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase A (PtpA), a protein secreted by MAP that interferes in the phago-lysosome fusion, rendering the pathogen unnoticed in the cytoplasm of the macrophage. This study aimed to assess the presence of PtpA antibodies in the sera of Mexican individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and investigate its possible use as a biomarker for disease activity. We compared RA patients (n = 100) to control subjects (CS) (n = 100) by assessing specific immune responses to PtpA (the antigen) by an indirect ELISA method. Results showed a significant difference in PtpA levels between RA and CS, with RA patients having a median OD of 0.4645 compared to 0.1372 in CS. Antibodies against PtpA were present in 95% of RA patients and 16% of CS (AUC = 0.9163, p = 0.0001). Male control subjects showed higher PtpA reactivity than female CS. The Disease Activity Score (DAS-28) analysis showed that individuals with moderate to high disease activity had lower levels of PtpA reactivity. The results suggest a potential connection between RA and MAP infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0316727","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]],"date-time":"2025-01-03T18:51:33Z","timestamp":1735930293000},"page":"e0316727","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["PtpA protein from Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis as a potential marker of rheumatoid arthritis in humans"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Jorge","family":"Hern\u00e1ndez-Bello","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7740-9299","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Horacio","family":"Bach","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sergio","family":"Cerpa-Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriela Athziri","family":"S\u00e1nchez-Zuno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7566-6825","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rodolfo","family":"Hern\u00e1ndez-Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ferdinando","family":"Nicoletti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Saraceno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Mu\u00f1oz-Valle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0316727.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18001","DOI":"10.1038\/nrdp.2018.1","article-title":"Rheumatoid arthritis.","volume":"4","author":"JS Smolen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat Rev Dis Primers"},{"key":"pone.0316727.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"689698","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2021.689698","article-title":"Etiology and Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A State-of-the-Art Review.","volume":"8","author":"VC Rom\u00e3o","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Med."},{"key":"pone.0316727.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1007\/s10393-022-01602-x","article-title":"Mycobacterium paratuberculosis zoonosis is a One Health emergency.","volume":"19","author":"CT Dow","year":"2022","journal-title":"EcoHealth"},{"key":"pone.0316727.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"972929","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2022.972929","article-title":"Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and Hashimoto\u2019s thyroiditis: Is MAP the trigger","volume":"12","author":"M Moghadam","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Cell Infect Microbiol"},{"key":"pone.0316727.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1007\/s11908-015-0463-z","article-title":"What role does Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis play in Crohn\u2019s disease?","volume":"17","author":"H. 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