The Clinical Significance Of Serum Interleukin-17 In Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective:To investigate the serum concentration of interleukin-17 in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and the clinical implication.Methods:(1)Active RA patients and normal controls were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay(ELISA).To investigated the relation between serum levels of interleukin-17 in active RA patients(RA group)and clinic observed index.(2)30 RA patients(treatment group)was treated by Leflunomide and Interleukin-17 concentration was detected in 2W,4W,8W,12W.Simultaneously,to observe the changes of clinic index between at baseline and after therapy.Results:(1)Serum IL-17 levels were elevated in the active RA patients(364.63 pg/ml±63.00)pg/ml with normal controls(65.92 pg/ml 12.58 pg/ml)pg/ml(P＜0.01);(2)Serum IL-17 levels in active RA had correlations with stiff time,swelling index,Ritchie index,CRP,ESR,RF,X-ray score,DAS score(P＜0.05);(3)the levels of IL-17 between phaseⅠ(296.00±78.6)pg/ml and PhaseⅡ(360.42±89.19)pg/ml;phaseⅡand phaseⅢ(463.91±74.11)pg/ml;PhaseⅢand PhaseⅣ(368.78±83.19)pg/ml in RA group were statistically significant(p＜0.05);(4)At baseline and after therapy 2W,4W,8W,12W of the serum concentration of interleukin-17 in treatment group were(356.37±70.57,346.34±86.23,182.23±62.12,154.75±85.76,122.43±45.65)pg/ml.the decrease of the serum concentration of interleukin-17 were statistically significant(except of at baseline and after therapy 2W) (p＜0.05);(5).the changes of stiff time,swelling index,Ritchie index,ESR,CRP,RF,DAS28 scores between after therapy 12W and at baseline in treatment group were statistically significant(p＜0.05).Conclusion:(1)The levels of serum IL-17 in active RA patients were higher than the normal controls;The elevated serum IL-17 levels may be the useful markers for active RA.(2)Changes of serum interleukin-17 may be used as an indicator to monitor the curative effect of active RA...