Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by non-specific inflammation, with complicated pathomechanisms involving a variety of cytokines and immunological pathways. The assessment of inflammatory cytokines associated with TA may help to better understand its pathophysiology, and the circulating levels of these cytokines may act as potential biomarkers reflecting disease activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis based on studies detailing differential inflammatory cytokines related to TA and to evaluate the predictive value of these inflammatory cytokines for TA. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, and a total of 18 studies reporting the predictive value of these inflammatory cytokines as biomarkers of TA were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that 20 biomarker candidates were reported, and the serum levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12 and IL-17A in TA patients were significantly increased, which may be helpful for the auxiliary diagnosis of TA. Regarding the identification of the phase of disease activity, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12, and IL-17A were significant, while serum IL-10 was a biomarker for the inactive stage of TA. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that 7 inflammatory cytokines could serve as potential circulating biomarkers with predictive value for TA, and our conclusion further verifies that the over-activation of Th1 and Th17 pathways and the imbalance between Treg and Th17 are the immunopathological characteristics of TA.
Li et al. (Thu,) studied this question.