title: Serum angiopoietin-1 level is increased in patients with Behçet's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Angiogenesis may be involved in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease (BD). Some angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and endothelin-1 are significantly associated with BD. Here, we investigate whether Angiopoietin contributes to disease activity and clinical manifestations of BD.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 59 consecutive patients with BD and sex- and age-matched 65 healthy control subjects for this study. We reviewed data regarding clinical features, erythrocyte sediment rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) at the time of enrollment. Serum angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student t test and Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Levels of serum angiopoietin-1 are significantly increased in BD patients compared to controls (284.5+/-101.2 ng/ml of BD vs 237.1+/-76.4 ng/ml of controls, p=0.012). However, serum angiopoietin-2 levels are similar in both groups (974.2+/-679.3 pg/ml of BD vs 858.3+/-535.3 pg/ml of controls, p=0.562). Serum angiopoietin-1 expression is significantly elevated in patients with skin lesions (p=0.025) and positively correlated with disease duration (r=0.320, p=0.015). ESR levels are closely associated with serum angiopoietin-2 (r=0.306, p=0.018).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Angiopoiein-1 expression is enhanced in BD patients compared to controls. This preliminary study identifies that angiopoietin-1 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of BD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Center, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, 3056-6 Daemyung 4-Dong, Namgu, Daegu 705-718, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Yoon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Sung-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seong-Kyu
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D042683:Angiopoietin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000097:blood; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D042683:Angiopoietin-1; D042702:Angiopoietin-2; D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein