Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The inflammatory cytokines, produced by synovial cells, monocytes/macrophages and lymphocytes, play a major role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. Interleukin-17, a recently found inflammatory cytokine, associates with many autoimmune diseases.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the levels of interleukin 17 related to Th17 cells in serum of rheumatoid arthritis patients and other laboratory markers such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive protein and disease activity.
METHODS: Seventy-nine patients with rheumatoid arthritis which line with classification criteria of rheumatoid arthritis revised by American Rheumatism Association in 1987 were selected from General Hospital of Chengdu Military Command (2008-01/2009-12), and the 79 patients were regarded as the experimental group; meanwhile, 50 healthy subjects who had the same gender and age with the experimental group were regarded as the control group. The experimental group was divided into activity group (n=49) and stable group (n=30) according the disease activity score in 28 joints.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay results showed that the level of interleukin 17 in peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.01), and the level of interleukin 17 in the activity group was higher than that in the stable group (P < 0.01). Pearson correlation analysis showed there was a positive correlation between interleukin 17 and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive protein, disease activity score in 28 joints in rheumatoid arthritis patients with active disease (r=0.459, 0.379, 0.455; P < 0.05). Interleukin-17 was involved in the inflammatory response of rheumatoid arthritis, and it could also reflect disease activity just as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein, 28 joint disease activity score index do.