title: Elevated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor in the sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis correlation with disease activity.
abstract: To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in relation to disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), VEGF in the serum of 155 patients with RA and 75 healthy control subjects was quantified by our highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. VEGF levels were found to correlate with the articular index (AI) and Lansbury's activity index (LI). Patients with RA had a mean serum VEGF concentration of 153.5+/-111.8 pg/ml, which was significantly higher than control subjects (104.8+/-65.7 pg/ml; P<0.01). VEGF concentration was elevated significantly according to disease progression as expressed by stages I to IV and correlated with AI (r=0.530, P<0.0001) and LI (r=0.688, P<0.0001) in stages I and II as well as with the conventional erythrocyte sedimentation rate or serum C-reactive protein concentration. Serum VEGF levels may therefore be valuable as a marker of disease activity in patients with early RA, and this cytokine may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of RA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. hsone@md.tsukuba.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakauchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimano
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toyoshima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D018450:Disease Progression; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D008222:Lymphokines; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors; D002097:C-Reactive Protein