TY - JOUR T1 - Dr. Dessein, et al reply JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 349 LP - 350 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.141380 VL - 42 IS - 2 AU - PATRICK H. DESSEIN AU - LINDA TSANG AU - GAVIN R. NORTON AU - AHMED SOLOMON Y1 - 2015/02/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/42/2/349.2.abstract N2 - To the Editor:We thank Dr. Makrilakis and colleagues for their interest1 in our study of 236 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that documented a potential role of the adipokine chemerin in atherogenesis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk stratification2.Dr. Makrilakis, et al1 reported on their own recent findings that interleukin 6 (IL-6) inhibition with tocilizumab (TCZ) in RA resulted in reduced chemerin concentrations, as well as decreased plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 levels (PAI-1)3 and arterial stiffness as estimated by the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV)1; reductions in chemerin concentrations were associated with those of PAI-1 levels3 and decreases in carotid-femoral PWV1. In our investigation2, we had shown that not only excess was adiposity, but also disease activity and inflammatory markers were strongly related to chemerin concentrations. Taken together, our findings and those in the Makrilakis, et al study support the notion that chemerin may contribute to the reported link between inflammation and enhanced CVD risk in RA. Further, whereas greater … Address correspondence to Dr. P.H. Dessein, P.O. Box 1012, Melville 2109, Johannesburg, South Africa. E-mail: dessein{at}telkomsa.net ER -