title: Relationship between serum levels of TGF-beta1 and clinical parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's syndrome secondary to rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: TGF-beta1 is a pleiotropic cytokine, which prevents inappropriate autoimmune responses and balances the requirements of proper immune cell levels during pathologic states that trigger the immune response. We assessed the serum levels of TGF-beta1 and determined the relationship between TGF-beta1 and clinical parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Sjögren's syndrome (SS) secondary to RA (SS + RA). Comparison of the serum levels of TGF-beta1 in patients with RA, SS + RA and NHD differed significantly (51.7 +/- 12.4 ng/ml (RA); 33.0 +/- 3.1 ng/ml (SS + RA) and versus 31.6 +/- 2.0 ng/ml (NHD)). We further found correlations between TGF-beta1 levels and radiologically defined joint damage determined by the Steinbrocker scoring system, symptoms and signs of SS. We conclude that serum levels of TGF-beta1 may reflect ongoing autoimmune inflammation and correlate with joint damage in RA.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine at Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania. diana.mieliauskaite@ekmi.vu.lt
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mieliauskaite
authors.forename: Paulius
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Venalis
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dumalakiene
authors.forename: Algirdas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venalis
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Distler
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1