PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shi-Yao Wang
AU  - Yan-Ying Liu
AU  - Hua Ye
AU  - Jian-Ping Guo
AU  - Ru Li
AU  - Xia Liu
AU  - Zhan-Guo Li
TI  - Circulating Dickkopf-1 Is Correlated with Bone Erosion and Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.100089
DP  - 2011 Mar 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - jrheum.100089
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2011/02/24/jrheum.100089.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2011/02/24/jrheum.100089.full
AB  - Objective To explore the potential role of Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to evaluate the effect of a tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) inhibitor (infliximab) and an interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra; anakinra) on DKK-1 secretion in patients with RA. Methods Serum samples were collected from 100 patients with RA, 100 patients with other rheumatic diseases (e.g., osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis), and 40 healthy controls. DKK-1 and osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels in serum were detected by ELISA. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF) titers, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody were also measured in patients with RA. Results The serum level of DKK-1 was significantly higher in patients with RA than in healthy controls and those with other rheumatic diseases (p < 0.01); the serum DKK-1 level was correlated with levels of CRP (r = 0.488, p = 0.003) and ESR (r = 0.458, p = 2.4 x 10–4) and the Sharp score of radiologic change (r = 0.449, p = 0.001) in RA. In contrast to the increasing level of OPG, DKK-1 was significantly decreased in RA patients treated with TNF-a inhibitor (p < 0.01). DKK-1 was significantly decreased in RA patients treated with IL-1Ra (p < 0.01). Conclusion DKK-1, as an important mediator, was correlated with bone erosion and inflammation in RA. The change of DKK-1 level may serve as a biomarker of disease activity and bone erosion.