Department of Rheumatology, Henri Mondor Hospital, University Paris 12, Créteil, France.
Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2010 Jul-Aug;28(4):553-5. Epub 2010 Aug 30.
Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare and severe disease which may lead to destruction of elastic cartilages. Until now, no reliable biomarker of disease activity in RP has been available. This study was designed to measure serum levels of cartilage biomarkers during both active and inactive phases of the disease.
Serum levels of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), chondroitin sulfate 846 epitope (CS846) of proteoglycan aggrecan and collagen type II collagenase cleavage neoepitope (C2C) were measured retrospectively in 21 subjects with RP. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test was used for statistical comparisons of biomarker levels in active and inactive phases of RP.
Only the serum level of COMP was significantly increased during disease flares. Steroids did not alter the serum cartilage-related biomarker levels. However, during the active phase, C2C levels were significantly higher in steroid treated patients compared with non-steroid treated patients.
This study suggests that serum COMP level may be useful for monitoring disease activity of RP. Further prospective studies are required to confirm this result.
复发性多软骨炎（RP）是一种罕见且严重的疾病，可能导致弹性软骨破坏。到目前为止，还没有可靠的 RP 疾病活动的生物标志物。本研究旨在测量疾病活动期和非活动期血清软骨生物标志物水平。
回顾性分析 21 例 RP 患者的血清软骨寡聚基质蛋白（COMP）、软骨素硫酸盐 846 表位（CS846）的蛋白聚糖聚集素和 II 型胶原胶原酶裂解新表位（C2C）水平。采用 Wilcoxon 配对符号秩检验比较 RP 活动期和非活动期生物标志物水平的统计学差异。
只有 COMP 的血清水平在疾病发作时显著升高。类固醇并未改变血清软骨相关生物标志物水平。然而，在活动期，与未接受类固醇治疗的患者相比，接受类固醇治疗的患者的 C2C 水平显著更高。
本研究表明，血清 COMP 水平可能有助于监测 RP 的疾病活动。需要进一步的前瞻性研究来证实这一结果。
