title: The relation of serum vascular endothelial growth factor level with disease duration and activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In order to elucidate the association between VEGF levels and RA disease activity, VEGF concentrations were measured in RA patients at different phases and severity levels. Thirty-eight healthy subjects and 40 patients with RA were prospectively included in the study. Subjects were further categorized into four subgroups (high, moderate, low, or remission) using the disease activity score-28 (DAS28) scoring system. VEGF levels were significantly higher in patients than controls (p < 0.001). VEGF levels differed significantly in controls, early and late-phase RA patients (p = 0.002). A significant difference was found between controls and patients with high RA disease activity scores (p < 0.0001). VEGF levels were not correlated with age (r = -0.016; p = 0.921) or sex (r = 0.209; p = 0.921). VEGF values were correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r = 0.445; p = 0.004), but was not correlated with serum rheumatoid factor levels (r = -0.130; p = 0.424) in the patient group. In conclusion, higher VEGF levels are associated with late phase and high disease activity in RA, independent of age and sex.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Istanbul Research and Training Hospital, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Istanbul, Turkey. levento26@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ozgonenel
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.forename: Sule
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tutun
authors.forename: Pinar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tonbaklar
authors.forename: Hale
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aral
authors.forename: Guvenc
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guvenen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D012372:ROC Curve; D012074:Remission Induction; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A