الفهرس 
abstractOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis has a worldwide distribution with an estimated prevalence of 1 to 2%. Prevalence increases with age, approaching 5% in women over age 55. Both incidence and prevalence of RA are two to three times greater in women than in men.
Early identification of reliable predictors of severity of the disease is important as the erosions are correlated with clinical outcome, such as disability. Moreover, early treatment may retard bone destruction. Therefore, the potential to early predict the individual who will require more aggressive treatment would be especially valuable. The imbalance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines is a feature of RA. The role of IL-4 and its receptor in the pathogenesis of RA is conflicting.
Genotyping results of IL-4 and IL-4 receptor alpha our provided the evidence that IL-4 -590 C/T, IL-4 intron-3 VNTR and IL-4Rα I50V polymorphism was associated with RA susceptibility in Egyptians. The simultaneous carriage of IL-4 -590 T allele and RP1 allele could be useful as a genetic marker of RA. The IL-4 -590, IL-4Rα I50V and IL-4Rα Q576R polymorphisms may be helpful in early detection of erosive RA in Egyptians.