RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Increased Serum Pentraxin 3 in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 976
OP 983
DO 10.3899/jrheum.080343
VO 36
IS 5
A1 YOHEI IWATA
A1 AYUMI YOSHIZAKI
A1 FUMIHIDE OGAWA
A1 KAZUHIRO KOMURA
A1 TOSHIHIDE HARA
A1 EIJI MUROI
A1 MOTOI TAKENAKA
A1 KAZUHIRO SHIMIZU
A1 MINORU HASEGAWA
A1 MANABU FUJIMOTO
A1 KAZUHIKO TAKEHARA
A1 SHINICHI SATO
YR 2009
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/5/976.abstract
AB Objective. To determine serum concentrations of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) and its clinical associations in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods. Serum PTX3 levels from 45 patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dSSc), 46 with limited cutaneous SSc (lSSc), and 20 healthy controls were examined by ELISA. PTX3 expression in the sclerotic skin from SSc patients was evaluated immunohistochemically. Normal and SSc fibroblasts were cultured and PTX3 levels in the culture medium were also examined by ELISA. Results. Serum PTX3 levels were elevated in patients with SSc relative to controls. PTX3 levels in dSSc patients were significantly higher than in controls and lSSc patients. PTX3 expression in the sclerotic skin from SSc patients was more intense relative to normal skin. Elevation of serum PTX3 levels was associated with more frequent presence of pulmonary fibrosis, cardiac disease, and pitting scar/ulcer and increased serum immunoglobulin levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rates. PTX3 levels correlated positively with modified Rodnan total skin thickness score, and negatively with percentage vital capacity and percentage DLCO in patients with SSc. PTX3 levels also correlated positively with serum levels of 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative stress, and hyaluronan, recently identified as an endogenous ligand for Toll-like receptors. PTX3 production from cultured SSc fibroblasts was increased by stimulation with hyaluronan. Conclusion These results suggest that elevated serum PTX3 levels are associated with the disease severity of SSc.