title: Serum concentrations of soluble 4-1BB and 4-1BB ligand correlated with the disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease whose etiopathogenesis is not well understood. Although soluble (s) forms of 4-1BB (s4-1BB) and 4-1BB legand (s4-1BBL) have been detected in the sera of RA patients, their significance is not known. We compared the serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL in RA patients with those in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Behcet's disease (BD) patients. Serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL were significantly higher in RA patients compared with healthy controls, SLE or BD patients, and the abundance was correlated with disease severity in patients with RA. The serum levels of s4-1BB in RA patients were inversely corroborated with 4-1BB expression levels on activated T lymphocytes. In addition, there was a correlation between serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL. The augmented secretion of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL levels into the serum may reflect the clinical symptoms of RA and levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL in sera at the time of diagnosis may be indicative of the severity and outcome of RA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences University of Ulsan Ulsan 680-749, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Seung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jung I L
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Byoung Se
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D053330:4-1BB Ligand; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D053330:4-1BB Ligand; D015703:Antigens, CD; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; C505714:TNFRSF9 protein, human; C505974:TNFSF9 protein, human; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha