Circular RNAs (circRNAs) represent a newly identified class of non-coding RNAs that have been shown to be involved in several diseases, including autoimmune diseases. Two studies have revealed the aberrant circRNA expression profiles in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by microarrays. However, due to the intrinsic defects of microarrays, such as their inability to detect unidentified circRNAs, we examined the circRNA expression profiles in the PBMCs from four RA patients and three healthy controls by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and further explored the value of circRNAs in diagnosing RA. The results showed 71 markedly dysregulated circRNAs, including 41 upregulated and 30 downregulated circRNAs; these data included several previously unidentified candidate circRNAs. Gene Ontology and pathway annotation revealed that the most altered pathways and genes were associated with inflammation and transcriptional activity, such as the TNF pathway. The selected dysregulated circRNAs were verified by qRT-PCR in the PBMCs of 32 RA patients and 20 healthy controls, and the results indicated that hsa_circ_0000396 and hsa_circ_0130438 were downregulated in the RA group versus the healthy group, consistent with the RNA-seq data. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve indicated the diagnostic value of both circRNAs for RA. Our results identified aberrant dysregulated circRNAs in RA patients, including several identified circRNAs, and the diagnostic value of circRNAs for RA, suggesting the superiority of RNA-seq versus microarrays for screening differentially expressed circRNAs and further strengthening the potential diagnostic value of circRNAs for the diagnosis of RA.

环状RNA（circRNA）代表一类新近鉴定的非编码RNA，已被证明与多种疾病有关，包括自身免疫性疾病。两项研究已通过微阵列揭示了类风湿关节炎（RA）患者外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）中的circRNA表达异常。但是，由于微阵列的内在缺陷，例如无法检测到无法识别的circRNA，我们通过RNA测序（RNA-seq）检查了四名RA患者和三名健康对照者的PBMC中circRNA的表达谱，并进一步探讨了其价值。 circRNA在诊断RA中。结果显示71种明显的circRNA失调，包括41种上调和30种下调。这些数据包括几个以前未鉴定的候选circRNA。基因本体论和途径注释显示，改变最多的途径和基因与炎症和转录活性相关，例如TNF途径。通过qRT-PCR在32例RA患者和20例健康对照者的PBMC中验证了选择的失调的circRNA，结果表明RA组与健康组的hsa_circ_0000396和hsa_circ_0130438均下调，与RNA-seq数据一致。受体工作特性曲线下方的面积表明两种circRNA对RA的诊断价值。我们的结果确定了RA患者中异常异常的circRNA，包括几种已鉴定的circRNA，以及circRNA对RA的诊断价值，