Serum angiopoietin-1 level is increased in patients with Behçet's disease

Angiogenesis may be involved in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease (BD). Some angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and endothelin-1 are significantly associated with BD. Here, we investigate whether Angiopoietin contributes to disease activity and clinical manifestations of BD.

We recruited 59 consecutive patients with BD and sex- and age-matched 65 healthy control subjects for this study. We reviewed data regarding clinical features, erythrocyte sediment rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) at the time of enrollment. Serum angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student t test and Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis.

Levels of serum angiopoietin-1 are significantly increased in BD patients compared to controls (284.5+/-101.2 ng/ml of BD vs 237.1+/-76.4 ng/ml of controls, p=0.012). However, serum angiopoietin-2 levels are similar in both groups (974.2+/-679.3 pg/ml of BD vs 858.3+/-535.3 pg/ml of controls, p=0.562). Serum angiopoietin-1 expression is significantly elevated in patients with skin lesions (p=0.025) and positively correlated with disease duration (r=0.320, p=0.015). ESR levels are closely associated with serum angiopoietin-2 (r=0.306, p=0.018).

Angiopoiein-1 expression is enhanced in BD patients compared to controls. This preliminary study identifies that angiopoietin-1 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of BD.