ABSTRACT
lnterleukin-10 [IL-10] has been shown to exert both anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory affects both in vivo and in vitro. We, therefore, sought to examine the role of this cytokine in rheumatoid arthritis [RA] by assessing serum and synovial fluid IL-10 level and correlating its level with disease activity parameters. Serum and synovial fluid samples were collected from 40 RA patients and 20 OA patients and 20 healthy persons as a control group. IL-10 was assessed by specific enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [EL1SA]. Results showed that both serum and synovial fluid IL-10 level were non-significantly higher than that of the control including OA patients with synovial level non significantly higher than serum level. Results, also, showed that there is an inverse non significant correlation with RA disease activity parameters This study suggested that there is a tendency of increased production of IL-10 in patients with RA. This increased IL-10 production is mainly originating from synovium. IL-10 level is not a reliable marker for RA disease activity