Serum interleukin-17 levels and rheumatoid arthritis patients with bone and joint damage

Abstract

Objective To observe the correlation between serum interleukin (IL)-17 levels with bone and joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and the possible mechanism.Methods Fifty-five cases of RA in our hospital were selected as the observation group during the period from October 2010 to June 2013,and 55 healthy volunteers were selected as the control group simultaneously.The serum IL-17 and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP) levels were detected by double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The serum IL-17 levels in RA patients with different stages of X-ray were compared.The relationship between serum IL-17 levels with active phase,rheumatoid factor and morning stiffness was observed.Results The serum IL-17 levels [(308.42 ±76.14) ng/L] and anti-CCP levels [(1 325.3 ±234.1) AU/ml] in the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P ＜0.05).There was significant difference in the serum IL-17 levels among different stages of X-ray.The higher the stages of X-ray,the higher the levels of serum IL-17 [the serum IL-17 levels at stage Ⅰ,Ⅱand Ⅲ:[(208.23 ±67.41),(322.62 ±78.35),(452.81 ±88.32) ng/L,P＜0.05].The serum IL-17 levels at the active phase [(342.61 ± 101.41) ng/L] were significantly higher than those of the patients at the non-active period [(228.61 ± 101.54) ng/L].The serum IL-17 levels in patients positive for serum rheumatoid factor [(318.74 ±98.42) ng/L] were higher than those of the patients negative for serum rheumatoid factor-negative [(220.56 ± 99.62) ng/L].The serum IL-17 levels were significantly higher in patients with long duration of morning stiffness [(356.27 ± 88.74) ng/L] than those in patients with a short duration of morning stiffness [(201.38 ± 78.43) ng/L,P ＜ 0.05].Conclusion Serum IL-17 plays an important role in the development of RA.Patients with severe bone and joint damage have high serum IL-17 levels. Key words: Interleukin-17; Rheumatoid arthritis; Bone and joint damage