Ebaid Amany M, Atwa Essam, Mortada Mohamed A, Bahri Hibah Abdulrahim, Almadani Noura, Hammad Noha M
Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
Medical-Surgical Department, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 84428, Saudi Arabia.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2025 May 26;15(11):1335. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15111335.
: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between interleukin-17 (IL-17) serum levels, musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) observations, and clinical disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and hand osteoarthritis (OA). : This case-control study involved 120 participants, with 40 individuals assigned to each of the three groups: RA, OA, and control. IL-17 serum levels were quantified in all participants. MSUS of the hand joints was performed on all RA and OA patients. Disease activity in patients with RA was assessed using the Clinical Disease Activity Score (CDAS). Both RA and OA patients completed a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to evaluate pain intensity. Functional status was evaluated using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) for RA patients, while the Australian/Canadian (AUSCAN) Osteoarthritis Hand Index was utilized for OA patients. : Serum levels of IL-17 were significantly higher in both the RA and OA groups compared to the control group. Among RA patients, a positive correlation was identified between the CDAS and the VAS for pain. In OA patients, a significant correlation was observed between VAS scores and serum IL-17 levels. Additionally, serum IL-17 levels were associated with the presence of synovitis in both RA and OA groups; however, no significant association was found between IL-17 levels and bony changes such as erosions or osteophytes. In terms of functional evaluation, serum IL-17 levels correlated with HAQ in the RA group, but not with AUSCAN in the OA group. : Elevated IL-17 serum levels are linked to inflammatory changes identified by MSUS but not to bony changes. These findings suggest that the rise in IL-17 levels in both OA and RA is primarily driven by underlying inflammatory processes, positioning IL-17 as a potential therapeutic target for both conditions.
本研究的目的是评估类风湿关节炎（RA）和手部骨关节炎（OA）患者血清白细胞介素 - 17（IL - 17）水平、肌肉骨骼超声（MSUS）检查结果与临床疾病活动度之间的关系。 本病例对照研究涉及120名参与者，分为三组，每组40人：RA组、OA组和对照组。对所有参与者的血清IL - 17水平进行定量检测。对所有RA和OA患者进行手部关节的MSUS检查。使用临床疾病活动评分（CDAS）评估RA患者的疾病活动度。RA和OA患者均完成视觉模拟量表（VAS）以评估疼痛强度。使用健康评估问卷（HAQ）评估RA患者的功能状态，而OA患者则使用澳大利亚/加拿大（AUSCAN）骨关节炎手部指数进行评估。 与对照组相比，RA组和OA组的血清IL - 17水平均显著升高。在RA患者中，CDAS与疼痛VAS之间存在正相关。在OA患者中，观察到VAS评分与血清IL - 17水平之间存在显著相关性。此外，血清IL - 17水平与RA组和OA组滑膜炎的存在有关；然而，未发现IL - 17水平与诸如侵蚀或骨赘等骨质改变之间存在显著关联。在功能评估方面，血清IL - 17水平与RA组的HAQ相关，但与OA组的AUSCAN无关。 血清IL - 17水平升高与MSUS所确定的炎症变化有关，但与骨质改变无关。这些发现表明，OA和RA中IL - 17水平的升高主要是由潜在的炎症过程驱动的，这使得IL - 17成为这两种疾病的潜在治疗靶点。
