Serum Markers in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Longitudinal Study of Patients Undergoing Infliximab Treatment

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical effect and serum markers in a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis patients with moderate to high disease activity, participating in an open clinical phase IV study conducted in Norway between 2001 and 2003 receiving infliximab treatment. Method. A total of 39 patients were studied, with a mean age of 54 years and 12-year disease duration. The analyses were performed using serum from patients at four assessment time points: baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after starting treatment with infliximab. A wide variety of clinical data was collected and disease activity of 28 joints and Simple Disease Activity Index were calculated. The joint erosion was determined by X-ray imaging and the Sharp/van der Heijde score was determined. Serum analysis included multiplex immunoassays for 12 cytokines, 5 matrix metalloproteases, and 2 VEGFs. Results. The majority of the RA patients in this study had initially moderate to high disease activity and the infliximab treatment reduced the disease activity significantly and also reduced any further joint destruction and improved disease status. Most of the serum levels of cytokines and metalloproteases remained unchanged during the course of the study, and we were unable to detect changes in TNF-α in serum. Serum levels of IL-6 and VEGF-A decreased significantly after initiation of infliximab treatment. Conclusion. The serum levels of IL-6 and VEGF-A may be promising disease markers as they vary with disease progression. The clinical significance of these findings is yet to be determined and has to be confirmed in future clinical trials before being applied in the clinics.

Alkylglycerols reduce serum complement and plasma vascular endothelial growth factor in obese individuals

“…VEGF is a serum marker for RA (Selaas et al, 2015). VEGF expression in atherosclerotic plaques is associated with plaque angiogenesis and progression (Phillips et al, 2012).…”

Chronic Heart Failure and Inflammation

“…[5][6][7][8] The magnitude in the elevation of proinflammatory cytokines in chronic HF is significantly less than what would be observed in cases of autoimmune diseases or acute infections, suggesting that low-grade chronic inflammation may be an important contributor to the maintenance or clinical deterioration of patients with established chronic HF. [9][10][11] Here, we will review what is known about the role of chronic inflammation in established HF. Importantly, we will highlight that although we have come to understand some of the intricate and contextdependent mechanisms in which inflammatory cells and pathways contribute to the development of HF in the acute setting, few of those insights have been extended to assessing the role of inflammation once chronic HF has been established.…”

Estimation of Levels of Interleukin-1 beta and Interleukin-10 in Sera of some Iraqi Patients with Chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…While in a different study before taking anti-rheumatic therapy, significant levels of IL-1β found in serum of 70 from 32 patients (> 10 pg/ml) while it was (0.35pg/ml) in serum of untreated RA patients . In the same study, a significant correlation was observed between the serum IL-1β levels at 6 months showing high levels of IL-1β before and even after 6 months of therapy [14].…”