Vol.20 No.4

Original Article

Plasma adrenomedullin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide in patients diagnosed as having early rheumatoid arthritis

Authors

Hiroaki Hamada1 , Koichiro Saisyo2 , Tomohisa Sekimoto1 , Etsuo Chosa1

  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, 5200 Kihara, Kiyotake, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Miyakonojo Hospital, 5033-1, Iwayoshi, Miyakonojo 885-0014, Japan
Received:

15 October 2009

Accepted:

3 March 2010

Published online:

14 May 2010

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate plasma adrenomedullin (AM) and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP) level in patients diagnosed with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Furthermore, several inflammatory cytokines were measured in those patients to clarify the roles of AM and PAMP. Forty patients diagnosed with early RA (women 46 ± 8.5 years old) and 10 healthy controls (women 57 ± 5 years old) were studied. Plasma levels of AM, PAMP, matrix metalloprotease 3 (MMP-3), interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured using an immunoradiometric assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent asay (ELISA) methods. The plasma levels of AM (17.5 ± 8.4 fmol/ml) and PAMP (2.01 ± 0.57 fmol/ml) in patients exceeded those in healthy controls (AM 8.6 ± 1.7, PAMP 1.17 ± 0.34 fmol/ml). Moreover, plasma AM and PAMP levels demonstrated a significantly positive correlation with plasma MMP-3 and IL-6 levels. Nevertheless, CRP and TNF-α levels in these patients showed no significant correlation with plasma AM and PAMP levels. These data support the possible role for AM and PAMP in the pathophysiology of early RA.

Key words

Adrenomedullin (AM) - Early RA - Interleukin-6 - Matrix metalloprotease-3 - Proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide