Serum neopterin level in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

ABSTRACT

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis [JIA] is generally considered a clinical syndrome involving several disease subsets, with a number of inflammatory flows, leading to an eventual common pathway in which persistent synovial inflammation and associated damage to articular cartilage and underlying bone are present. Neoptrin is a reliable marker in the assessment of the rate of IFN-gamma production. Levels of neoptrin increase in direct proportion with the level of interferon. Measurement of neopterin level is useful because of its relative stability also it is a prognostic indicator for cell-mediated immunity