Sivalingam Suppiah Paramalingam, Thumboo Julian, Vasoo Sheila, Thio Szu Tien, Tse Connie, Fong Kok Yong
Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Ann Acad Med Singap. 2007 Feb;36(2):96-9.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, deforming arthritis that can lead to disabilities and poor quality of life. Cytokines are protein mediators of inflammation and are produced as a result of the activation of various cellular reactions. They are the final mediators and/or regulators of the inflammatory process.
The sera from 64 RA patients were assayed for both Th-1 and Th-2 related cytokines and soluble TNF-alpha receptors (IFN-gamma, TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-18, sTNF-R1 and sTNFR2) using ELISA.
The pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18 and TNF- alpha) were significantly elevated in RA patients, while TGF-beta, an immunomodulatory cytokine, was elevated in control individuals. When the RA patients were categorised as active or inactive based on DAS scores, similar cytokines profiles were observed in both RA sub-groups. However, assays of sTNF-R1 and sTNFR-2 were noted to be significantly elevated in inactive RA patients when compared to active patients.
Our findings indicate that local production of cytokine inhibitors is capable of diminishing disease activity and cytokine activity.
类风湿性关节炎（RA）是一种慢性、致残性关节炎，可导致残疾和生活质量下降。细胞因子是炎症的蛋白质介质，是各种细胞反应激活的结果。它们是炎症过程的最终介质和/或调节因子。
采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）对64例类风湿性关节炎患者的血清进行Th-1和Th-2相关细胞因子以及可溶性肿瘤坏死因子-α受体（IFN-γ、转化生长因子-β、肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-1β、白细胞介素-2、白细胞介素-4、白细胞介素-6、白细胞介素-8、白细胞介素-10、白细胞介素-12、白细胞介素-18、可溶性肿瘤坏死因子受体-1和可溶性肿瘤坏死因子受体-2）检测。
类风湿性关节炎患者促炎细胞因子（白细胞介素-1、白细胞介素-6、白细胞介素-8、白细胞介素-18和肿瘤坏死因子-α）显著升高，而免疫调节细胞因子转化生长因子-β在对照组个体中升高。根据疾病活动评分（DAS）将类风湿性关节炎患者分为活动期和非活动期时，两个亚组中观察到相似的细胞因子谱。然而，与活动期患者相比，非活动期类风湿性关节炎患者的可溶性肿瘤坏死因子受体-1和可溶性肿瘤坏死因子受体-2检测值显著升高。
我们的研究结果表明，细胞因子抑制剂的局部产生能够降低疾病活动度和细胞因子活性。
