Elevated Levels Of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor In Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in relation to disease activity and antibodies levels in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To investigate the influence in release of VEGF in response toMethotrexate(MTX) and dexamethasone(Dex) in fibroblastsobtained from patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods VEGF in the serum of 60 patients with RA and 28 healthy control subjects was quantified by our highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunoad sorbent assay, and its relationship to clinical and laboratory variables was analyzed . Synovial specimens were obtained from 1 RA and 1 OA patients undergoing synovectomy. Synovial fibroblasts were cultured with MTX and Dex in vitro for 24 h and 48 h, and harvested supernatants were assayed for VEGF by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results Patients with RA had a mean serum VEGF concentration of 185.31 138.10pg/ml , which was significantly higher than that of control subjects (P<0.001). VEGF levels were found to correlate with the conventional erythrocyte sedimentation rate or serum C-reactive protein concentration in RA as well as with the articular swell and ache in patients with early RA. There were no obvious correlations between serum VEGF and RF, APF, AKA, Anti-CCP antibody. VEGF levels were approximately 2.0-fold higher in RA synovial fibroblasts compared with that of in OA. the response to MTX and Dex in RA cells seems to be greater than that in OA cells.Conclusion Serum VEGF levels may therefore be valuable as a marker of disease activity in patients with early and later RA. VEGF and autoantibodies may play a significant role independently in the pathophysiology of RA. Both Metliotrexate and Dexamethasone seems to inhibit the release of VEGF in RA synovial fibroblasts.