抄録
Background. Angiogenic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through microvessel proliferation. N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (AcSDKP) is a tetrapeptide cleaved from the N-terminal of thymosin β4, known as a stimulator of angiogenesis. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of sera and synovial fluid levels of AcSDKP relative to clinical manifestations in patients with RA.
Methods. The concentration of AcSDKP in sera and synovial fluids was measured using a high throughput method based on on-line solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS). Serum or synovial fluid samples were collected from 52 patients with RA, 22 patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and 5 healthy controls. We included serum samples from 22 patients with RA treated with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) at the beginning and after 12 weeks of treatment.
Results. Median serum levels of AcSDKP were 2.64 (ng/mL), 1.65 (ng/mL) and 0.69 (ng/mL) in patients with RA, patients with OA and healthy controls, respectively. There was positive correlation between serum AcSDKP and serum CRP in patients with RA. However there were no correlations between serum levels of AcSDKP and serum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, and ESR. Serum levels of AcSDKP and DAS28 [ESR] reflected improvements in the disease activity following treatment with DMARDs.
Conclusions. This is the first report demonstrating that the serum levels of AcSDKP might serve as a useful clinical marker of RA
