2nd Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2012 Jul;32(7):338-40. doi: 10.1089/jir.2011.0118. Epub 2012 Apr 17.
The B-cell-activating factor (BAFF), a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family, has recently attracted attention as a potent cytokine, involved in B-cell stimulation and survival of autoimmune cells. Despite its significance in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, data is limited and inconclusive regarding its expression in different stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to assess BAFF in biologic-naïve RA patients with early versus established disease and monitor its levels in response to anti-TNF treatment in seronegative- and seropositive patients. Based on our results, B-cell-activating factor (BAFF) did not appear to be overexpressed or differentially expressed early (≤2 years duration) in comparison to established rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Moreover, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockade did not appear to affect BAFF levels in either seropositive or seronegative RA patients, despite the association of anti-TNF treatment with the development of autoantibodies and the known anti-apoptotic effects of BAFF. As expected, BAFF became induced after B-cell depletion. Investigation of the effect of different biologics on the expression of BAFF and other cytokines will help elucidate the interconnecting immune pathways involved in the initiation and perpetuation of the inflammatory process.
B 细胞激活因子（BAFF）是肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）家族的成员，最近作为一种有效的细胞因子引起了人们的关注，它参与了 B 细胞的刺激和自身免疫细胞的存活。尽管它在自身免疫性疾病的发病机制中具有重要意义，但关于其在类风湿关节炎（RA）不同阶段的表达的数据有限且尚无定论。本研究旨在评估生物初治的早期和已确立的 RA 患者的 BAFF，并监测其在抗 TNF 治疗后在血清阴性和血清阳性患者中的水平。根据我们的结果，与已确立的类风湿关节炎（RA）相比，B 细胞激活因子（BAFF）似乎没有过度表达或差异表达（≤2 年病程）。此外，尽管抗 TNF 治疗与自身抗体的产生有关，并且已知 BAFF 具有抗细胞凋亡作用，但 TNF 阻断似乎并没有影响血清阳性或血清阴性 RA 患者的 BAFF 水平。正如预期的那样，在 B 细胞耗竭后，BAFF 被诱导。研究不同生物制剂对 BAFF 和其他细胞因子表达的影响将有助于阐明参与炎症过程启动和持续的免疫途径之间的相互联系。
