title: Cartilage proteoglycan aggrecan as a predictor of joint damage in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Aggrecan was measured in the sera of 31 children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and in the synovial fluid of 10 of them. Patients were evaluated at baseline and 3 months later. Radiographs were repeated also after 1 year. As comparison, 15 apparently healthy children with no disease and 10 children with arthritis due to other collagen vascular diseases were studied. Baseline serum aggrecan was significantly higher in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to controls and other patients. On re-evaluation, a significant drop in serum aggrecan from baseline values coincided with a significant drop in clinical and laboratory indices of active inflammation. Serum aggrecan can help to assess the extent of cartilage destruction and is useful as a prognostic tool to predict joint damage in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Z A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: el-Sayed
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Wakkad
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Sherief
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nasr el-Din
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D053674:Aggrecans; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001175:Arthrography; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003095:Collagen Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D004487:Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D053674:Aggrecans; D015415:Biomarkers; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D011509:Proteoglycans