Changes of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors，tumor necrosis factor-alpha in rheumatoid arthritis / 免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective　To investigate the relationship between soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors (sTNF-R), TNF-α, TNF-α/sTNF-R and rheumatoid arthritis. Methods　 Serum levels of sTNF-RⅠ, sTNF-RⅡ and TNF-αwere measured in 28 patients with active RA and 12 patients with inactive RA and 30 healthy controls, using double antibodies sandwiched ELISA. Results　The results showed that serum levels of sTNF-RⅠ, sTNF-R Ⅱ and TNF-α　were significantly higher in the group of patients with active RA than those　found　in healthy group and　in the patients with inactive RA. Serum levels of both sTNF-RⅠ, sTNF-RⅡ and TNF-α　were also significantly higher in patients with inactive RA than in healthy group(P＜0.01 for all). In RA, the serum concentrations of sTNF-RⅠ and sTNF-RⅡ were positively correlated with the levels of ESR，CRP，Ritchie index. Conclusions　These results suggest that the serum levels of sTNF-RⅠ and sTNF-RⅡwere significantly increased and positively correlated with the disease activity. The determination of serum levels of sTNF-RⅠ and sTNF-RⅡ can be regarded as a useful laboratory parameter for diagnosis of RA,monitoring of the disease activity and assessment of prognosis.