Elevated levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

• Published in: Clinical biochemistry Vol. 42; no. 4; p. 343
• Main Authors: Bilgi, Pinar Tonbaklar, Cetin, Esra, Ozgonenel, Levent, Aslan, Aram, Aral, Hale, Inal, Berrin Bercik, Guvenen, Guvenç
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-03-2009
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Rheumatoid arthritis (RA); Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); Rheumatoid arthritis (RA); Angiogenesis; Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
• ISSN: 0009-9120; 1873-2933
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2008.09.075

Based on the hypothesis that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is closely associated with the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we analyzed serum VEGF concentrations in RA patients at various stages and evaluated its relationship to clinical and laboratory variables.
Thirty-eight healthy subjects and forty RA patients were chosen prospectively.
Serum levels of VEGF (180.40
±
124.89 pg/ml) were significantly higher (
p
<
0.001) in patients with RA than in controls (111.53
±
64.29 pg/ml). In patients group, slightly positive correlation was found between VEGF levels and the following: disease duration (
r
=
0.288,
p
=
0.072), disease activity score 28 (DAS 28) (
r
=
0.301,
p
=
0.059) and ESR (
r
=
0.445,
p
=
0.004).
Our results show that VEGF levels may be a valuable prognostic factor as a marker of angiogenesis but its diagnostic efficiency was not high. While the serum levels of VEGF is correlated with inflammation parameters, measurement of this marker can be a useful method for monitoring the disease activity of RA.