Melanoma inhibitory activity [MIA] and transforming growth factor- beta [TGF-beta] levels in the sera of juvenile arthritis

ABSTRACT

We measured serum levels of MIA and TGF-beta by means of ELISA and investigated whether they provide clinically relevant parameters in juvenile arthritis patients. We also evaluated their correlations with clinical and laboratory parameters. Serum was obtained from 10 poly-articular juvenile arthritis [pa-JRA [patients, 10 childhood systemic lupus erythematosus [ch-SLE] patients, 10 childhood systemic sclerosis]ch-SSC] patients and 10 apparently healthy children as a control group. Both MIA and TGF-beta serum concentrations were found to increase in both destructive [JRA] and non-destructive [ch-SLE and ch-SSc] juvenile arthritis. We found no correlation with disease activity, clinical or laboratory parameters except RF. MIA and TGF-beta are not serum markers of a specific disease. In addition, the presence of elevated MIA in the sera of juvenile arthritic patients very likely reflects passive release from necrotic or apoptotic chondrocytes and is partly due to chondrocyte activation. This is supported by the fact that MIA level was only associated with RF positivity and not with markers of inflammation