TY - JOUR T1 - Circulating tumour necrosis factor α and soluble tumour necrosis factor receptors in patients with different patterns of rheumatoid synovitis JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 472 LP - 475 DO - 10.1136/ard.62.5.472 VL - 62 IS - 5 AU - P A Klimiuk AU - S Sierakowski AU - R Latosiewicz AU - J P Cylwik AU - B Cylwik AU - J Skowronski AU - J Chwiecko Y1 - 2003/05/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/62/5/472.abstract N2 - Objective: To examine the relation between the serum levels of tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), soluble tumour necrosis factor receptors (sTNF-R), and the histological pattern of rheumatoid synovitis. Methods: An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure TNFα, p55 sTNF-R, and p75 sTNF-R concentrations in the serum of 43 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 34 patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Results: Upon histological analysis two variants of rheumatoid synovitis emerged. Twenty six RA specimens presented only diffuse infiltrates of mononuclear cells. In the remaining 17 samples the formation of lymphocytic follicles with germinal centre-like structures was found. Serum concentrations of TNFα, p55 and p75 sTNF-R were raised in patients with RA compared with the OA control group (p<0.001 for all comparisons). Levels of TNFα, p55 and p75 sTNF-R were higher in the serum of patients with RA with follicular synovitis than in patients with diffuse synovitis (p<0.001, p<0.01, and p<0.05, respectively). Serum concentrations of TNFα, p55 and p75 sTNF-R correlated with markers of disease activity. Conclusion: Different histological types of rheumatoid synovitis associated with distinct serum levels of TNFα and sTNF-R reflect varying clinical activity of the disease and support the concept of RA heterogeneity. ER -