OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) or interleukin-6 (IL-6) in synovium and the disease activity score (DAS) 28 (C-reactive protein, CRP) in treatment of infliximab for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Synovial tissues were obtained from 16 infliximab-treated patients and assessed for TNF-α and IL-6 with a new immunohistology (IH) scoring system. The validation of IH score was performed and applied for the analysis of correlation between synovial TNF-α or IL-6 and DAS28 (CRP) in addition to Rooney score. RESULTS: The IH score had high internal validity; the IH score of TNF-α strongly correlated with serum CRP and matrix metalloprotease-3 (MMP-3), as well as DAS28 (CRP) and the Rooney score. IL-6 did not correlate with DAS28 (CRP). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the IH score is useful as a new procedure to assess the cytokine expression easily and TNF-α in synovium correlates with disease activity in patients with RA treated with infliximab.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Kanbe et al. (2014) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: