Institute of Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia 7, Hasratyan St,, Yerevan 0014, Armenia.
J Inflamm (Lond). 2010 Nov 23;7:55. doi: 10.1186/1476-9255-7-55.
Familial Mediterranean fever is a genetic autoinflammatory disease most commonly affecting the ethnic groups originating from around the Mediterranean Sea. Apoptosis plays an important role in down-regulation of the inflammatory response by reducing the lifespan of activated immunocompetent cells. Thus, increased apoptosis may be associated with pathogenesis of familial Mediterranean fever.
In the present study we determined the serum levels of apoptotic marker, Annexin A5, in familial Mediterranean fever patients, within an attack and attack-free, in comparison to healthy subjects and assessed the influence of colchicine treatment on this parameter. In addition, in all study subjects serum levels of C-reactive protein and interleukine-1β, and the total leukocyte count were also determined.
Our results demonstrated that pathogenesis of familial Mediterranean fever is characterized by the increased levels of circulating Annexin A5, which is higher in patients within the attack and which associate with the increased levels of C-reactive protein and interleukine-1β and total leukocyte count.
The results obtained indicate elevated rates of apoptosis of subpopulations of leukocytes involved in autoinflammation and recurrent episodes of fever in familial Mediterranean fever. It was also revealed that regular colchicine treatment sufficiently decreases the rate of apoptosis in familial Mediterranean fever patients by affecting the intensity of autoinflammatory reactions.
家族性地中海热是一种遗传性自身炎症性疾病，主要影响来自地中海周围地区的民族。细胞凋亡通过减少活化免疫细胞的寿命在下调炎症反应中起重要作用。因此，细胞凋亡增加可能与家族性地中海热的发病机制有关。
在本研究中，我们在发作期和无发作期测定了家族性地中海热患者血清中凋亡标志物 Annexin A5 的水平，并与健康受试者进行了比较，并评估了秋水仙碱治疗对该参数的影响。此外，在所有研究对象中还测定了 C 反应蛋白和白细胞介素 1β的血清水平以及白细胞总数。
我们的结果表明，家族性地中海热的发病机制的特征是循环中 Annexin A5 水平升高，在发作期患者中更高，并且与 C 反应蛋白和白细胞介素 1β以及白细胞总数的升高相关。
获得的结果表明，白细胞亚群的凋亡率升高，涉及自身炎症和家族性地中海热的反复发作。还发现，秋水仙碱的常规治疗通过影响自身炎症反应的强度，足以降低家族性地中海热患者的凋亡率。
