[Serum levels of several chemokines in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the role of several chemokines in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their clinical significance.


METHODS
ELISA was used to detect the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-8, interferon-gamma inducible protein (IP)-10, and RANTES in 58 active RA patients, 29 clinically remissive RA patients, 21 osteoarthritis (OA) patients, and 30 healthy volunteers. Clinical data of these patients were compared between different groups.


RESULTS
The serum levels of IL-8, IP-10 and RANTES in the active RA patients were significantly higher than those of the healthy controls and OA patients. The serum level of IP-10 of the active patients was higher than that of the clinically remissive patients. The index IL-8/IP-10 x RANTES/IP-10 of the active patients was higher than that of the healthy controls (P = 0.01). The serum RANTES level was positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, platelet count, and numbers of swollen joints, and was negatively correlated with the hemoglobin level. The serum level of IP-10 was negatively correlated with X-ray image grade of hand and wrist joints.


CONCLUSIONS
The serum levels of IL-8, IP-10 and RANTES significantly increase in active RA. The level of RANTES may be a useful additional marker for disease activity and the level of IP-10 can be used as an index of prognosis.
Wu
Hua-xiang
HX
Department of Rheumatology, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China.
Zhang
Ying
Y
Zhu
Yong-liang
YL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000097:blood*; D054357:Chemokine CXCL10; D019743:Chemokines, CXC / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D015415:Biomarkers; D018946:Chemokine CCL5; D054357:Chemokine CXCL10; D019743:Chemokines, CXC; D016209:Interleukin-8