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Soluble CD30 in early rheumatoid arthritis as a predictor of good response to second-line therapy
R Gerli1, O Bistoni, C Lunardi
1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Internal Medicine and Oncological Sciences, Centre for the Study of Rheumatic Diseases, University of Perugia, Italy.
Objective:
To evaluate whether serum levels of the soluble form of CD30 (sCD30) correlate with disease activity in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and may have prognostic value in predicting the response to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
Methods:
The levels of sCD30 and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in the serum of 14 untreated subjects with early RA, before and during treatment with hydroxychloroquine, for a follow-up period of 8 months. At the end of the study, patients were also evaluated for their response to DMARDs.
Results:
An inverse correlation between sCD30 and CRP serum values was demonstrated at baseline, but not during the follow-up. Patients who responded to DMARD therapy had higher sCD30 basal levels than non-responders.
Conclusions:
The evaluation of sCD30 serum levels in early RA may reflect the attempt by CD30+ T cells to downmodulate inflammation and may be a useful marker to predict a good response to DMARDs.