Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on July 20, 2004
Rheumatology 2004 43(10):1300-1304; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keh323
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Rheumatology Vol. 43 No. 10 © British Society for Rheumatology 2004; all rights reserved
Paper |
Different cytokine profiles in patients with chronic and acute reactive arthritis
Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Vilnius University, 1 Laboratory of Ecological Genetics, Vilnius University and 2 Laboratory of Immunology, Institute of Biotechnology, Lithuania.
Correspondence to: I. Butrimiene, Department of Rheumatology, Vilnius University Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Zygimantu 9, LT-2600, Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: irena.butrimiene{at}santa.lt
Objective. Analysis of cytokine production in patients with acute and chronic reactive arthritis (AcReA/ChrReA) in order to search for new treatment possibilities.
Methods. Cytokine production by peripheral blood and synovial fluid mononuclear cells (PBMCs/SFMCs) of 28 patients with AcReA, 27 patients with ChrReA, 26 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 31 healthy controls was analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and flow-cytometry. Production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-
), interferon-gamma (IFN-
) and interleukin (IL)-10 was measured by ELISA, while the percentages of TNF-
-, IFN-
- and IL-4-positive CD3+ cells were determined in the same groups of patients and healthy subjects using flow cytometry.
Results. Spontaneous TNF-
production observed in PBMCs of ChrReA, but not of AcReA, patients was significantly higher (P<0.001) than in healthy controls. The percentages of TNF-
-positive CD3+ blood cells in ChrReA exceeded that of RA patients and healthy controls (P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively). Also, the percentages of IFN-
-positive CD3+ cells were significantly higher in peripheral blood and synovial fluid of ChrReA patients (P<0.05 and P<0.05, respectively) as compared with AcReA. In ChrReA spontaneous IL-10 production in PBMCs was similar to that observed in healthy controls, while in RA and AcReA the production of IL-10 was significantly increased (P<0.05 and P<0.05, respectively). IL-4 production was low in all study groups with no significant differences detected.
Conclusions. High production of TNF-
and IFN-
detected in ChrReA supports the possible use of anti-TNF-
treatment in ChrReA.
KEY WORDS: Reactive arthritis, Cytokines, TNF-
, IFN-