الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Introduction: Calprotectin is a heterodimeric complex of S100A8/9 (MRP8/14). It has been proposed as an important serum biomarker that reflects disease activity and structural joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objective: This cross sectional study was aiming to measure serum calprotectin in rheumatoid arthritis patients and evaluates its use as a marker of disease activity and severity assessed both clinically and radiologically. Patients and methods: A total of 20 patients with RA underwent a clinical examination and 7-joint ultrasound score (German US-7) of the clinically dominant hand and foot to assess synovitis and tenosynovitis by grey-scale (GS) and synovial vascularity by power Doppler (PD) ultrasound using semiquantitative 0–3 grading. RA Articular Damage score (RAAD)), and radiographic (plain hand radiographs; simplified erosion narrowing score) measurements. The levels of serum calprotectin and C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were determined at the time of radiological and ultrasound assessments. We analyzed the relationship between serum calprotectin level, traditional inflammatory markers, ultrasound-determined synovitis and tenosynovitis, clinical (RAAD) and radiological assessments of joint damage. Results: The levels of serum calprotectin were significantly (p< 0.0001) correlated with swollen joint count (r = 0.945), DAS28-ESR (r = 0.977), ESR (r = 0.898) and CRP (r = 0.729), GSUS (r = 0.921) and PDUS synovitis scores (r = 0.974). Calprotectin showed a highly significant correlation with measures of joint damage; simplified erosion narrowing score (r = 0.889) and RAAD (r = 0.861) Conclusions: we demonstrated a significant association between serum calprotectin level, clinical and laboratory markers of disease activity and ultrasound synovitis and tenosynovitis scores. We also found correlation between calprotectin and clinical and radiological measures of joint damage (RAAD score and SENS score). Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Calprotectin, Synovitis, US7 score, RAAD, SENS |