title: Selected angiogenic cytokines in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the serum concentration of angiogenic factors (vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF; transforming growth factor beta, TGF-beta1; hepatic growth factor, HGF; basic fibroblast growth factor, bFGF; tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-alpha; soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1, sVEGF-R1; soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, sVEGF-R2), the relationships among them and to assess the relation of their levels with the applied therapy in 48 females with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; 37 long-term treated +11 newly diagnosed). The control group consisted of 24 healthy women. A statistically significant increase of sVEGF-R2 and significant decrease of sVEGF-R1 were observed in the subgroup of newly diagnosed SLE patients as compared to the control subjects. No significant differences were found between serum angiogenic factors in the long-term treated subgroup and the control, the long-term treated subgroup and the newly diagnosed SLE patients after a 3-month treatment, and the subgroup of newly diagnosed SLE patients before therapy and after a 3-month treatment. The significant decrease in the serum of sVEGF-R2 was revealed in the subgroup treated for a long-time as compared to the subgroup of newly diagnosed untreated SLE patients. The analysis of relationships between serum concentration of sVEGF-R1 and other cytokines levels revealed positive correlation with concentration of VEGF and TNF-alpha in the total group of patients. In the newly diagnosed untreated subgroup, a strong positive correlation between concentration of sVEGF-R1 and bFGF was observed. Furthermore, a moderate positive correlation between concentration of sVEGF-R1 and the level of VEGF was revealed in the long-term treated patients. The association between sVEGF-R2 and HGF was also noted in this subgroup. The obtained data suggest the necessity of further investigations to determine the importance of angiogenic factors in pathogenesis and therapy of SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal, Autoimmune and Metabolic Diseases, Medical University of Silesia, ul. Medyków 14, 40-752, Katowice, Poland. genmar@ka.onet.pl
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hrycek
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janowska
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cieślik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000097:blood; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000097:blood; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2