Increased serum levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin in patients with systemic sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the serum levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).


METHODS
Serum samples from 80 patients with SSc and 20 healthy control subjects were examined by a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
The serum levels of sVCAM-1 and sE-selectin were significantly higher in the patients with SSc than in the healthy controls. The serum levels of sVCAM-1 were correlated with the presence of pulmonary fibrosis, joint involvement and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate levels. The serum levels of sE-selectin were correlated with the presence of pulmonary fibrosis.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that endothelial activation is involved in the development of this disease.
Ihn
H
H
Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Sato
S
S
Fujimoto
M
M
Takehara
K
K
Tamaki
K
K
D000328:Adult; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D019040:E-Selectin / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000097:blood; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000097:blood*; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood*
D019040:E-Selectin; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1