Relationship between procollagen III peptide serum levels, synovitis of weight bearing joints and disability in rheumatoid arthritis.
We studied P-III-P levels along with several acute phase reactants, Beta-2-microglobulin and autoantibody synthesis in 52 rheumatoid patients. No relationship arose between P-III-P levels and immunological parameters nor with acute phase reactants. We observed a highly significant difference between P-III-P levels in patients with knee and/or hip involvement with respect to those with only polyarthritis of small joints (86.1 +/- 21.5 vs 61.2 +/- 19.1 ng/ml; p less than 0.001). In 24 consecutive patients we also observed a significant correlation (p less than 0.02) between P-III-P levels and AIMS score. We conclude that P-III-P levels are mainly related to the synovial inflammation of major joints and as such P-III-P might represent the biochemical marker of the synovial mass in rheumatoid arthritis.
Ferraccioli
G F
GF
Rheumatic Disease Unit (RDU), University Hospital of Parma, Italy.
Cavalieri
F
F
Troise Rioda
W
W
Bonelli
P
P
Franchini
D
D
Ugolotti
G
G
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011347:Procollagen / Q000097:blood*; D013585:Synovitis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016474:Weight-Bearing
D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011347:Procollagen; C041876:procollagen Type III-N-terminal peptide; D002097:C-Reactive Protein