The Value Of Serum Cartilage Oligomeric Protein In Progress Of Bone Destruction In Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective To study the association of serum cartilage oligomeric protein (COMP) with disease activity and early jiont destruction of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods The serum level of COMP were measured with ELISA in 210 patients and 100 control.The serum level of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), rheumatoid facter (RF), C-reactive protein(CRP) and hand X-ray were examined at the same time.The data was analyzed by t-test or nonparametric,analysis of variance,Pearson or Spearman correlation.Results significantly increased serum level of COMP was found in RA patients (11.1±5.3) U/L as compared with that of the health controls (9.3±1.6) U/L (P<0.05). Serum levels of COMP was higher in 134 active patients (14.3±6.2) U/L than that of the 66 inactive disease (9.6±4.4) U/L (P<0.05). COMP level was positively correlated with the number of the affective jionts, X-ray stage, CRP, and ESR level (P<0.05). but had no correlation with age, disease course and RF levels.Conclusion The present data suggests that the level of COMP is high in patients with RA. high serum levels of COMP indicate high disease activy and early progressive of bone distruction in RA patients.We can regard COMP as a laboratory biomarker of RA. In addition,The results of this study indicate that serum COMP may be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for cartilage destruction in established RA patients.