Expression of midkine and interleukin-17 in rheumatoid arthritis patients and its clinical significance / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo study the midkine(MK) and interleukin(IL)-17 levels in the sera of rheumatoid arthritis(RA) patients. MethodsMK, IL-17 and anti-CCP levels in the sera were detected by ELISA in 79 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 70 healthy controls and 37 patients with osteoarthritis (OA).Krusk-Wallis H test, Mann-whitney U test and Spearman's correlation were used for statistical analysis.ResultsThe serum level of MK of RA patients(327±167) pg/ml was significantly higher than healthy controls (225±109) pg/ml and OA patients (209±130) pg/ml (H=22.01, P＜0.01), but there was no significant difference between that of the healthy controls and OA group (P＞0.05). The serum level of IL-17 (44±15) pg/ml from RA patients was increased significantly than healthy controls (27±8) pg/ml and OA patients (26±8) pg/ml(H=66.89, P＜0.01 ), but there was no significant difference between healthy controls and OA group(P＞0.05). Serum MK values were correlated with IL-17 and CRP(r=0.398, P＜0.01; r=0.285, P＜0.01 ), but not with DAS, RF, ESR, AKA and anti-CCP. ConclusionThe serum level of MK and IL-17 from RA patients is increased significantly than healthy controls and OA patients, so MK and IL-17 may be involved in the pathogenesis of RA.