Fig. 1.

Baseline expression of nucleotide binding domain and leucine-rich repeat pyrin 3 domain (NLRP3) inflammasome-related proteins in controls (a) as compared to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (b). Western blots were performed in cell lysates of freshly isolated whole blood cells for CASP 1, NLRP3, IL1β and ASC, from healthy controls (a) (n = 11) and patients with active RA (b) (n = 11). Protein densitometry was assessed by the use of Image J program and the intensity of the protein of interest was normalized to β-actin expression (c-h). HC healthy controls, CTL control