Original ContributionDeterminants of thromboxane biosynthesis in rheumatoid arthritis: Role of RAGE and oxidant stress
Section snippets
Subjects
Fifty-four patients with RA according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology [27] (50 women and 4 men, mean age 55 ± 12 years; disease duration 13 ± 9 years) were recruited as outpatients of the Rheumatology Clinic of Pescara Hospital. As the control group, 20 healthy subjects (17 women and 3 men, mean age 43 ± 12 years) were also studied. Clinical features of the patients and healthy controls are detailed in Table 1.
All study patients underwent a standard clinical examination. Body
Results
Urinary 11-dehydro-TXB2 was significantly higher in patients with RA than in control subjects [median (IQR): 425 (309–592) vs 233 (158–327) pg/mg creatinine, P < 0.0001; Fig. 1A]. Urinary 11-dehydro-TXB2 was not significantly different in diabetic versus nondiabetic patients (P = 0.219) or in hypertensive versus normotensive subjects (P = 0.165). Moreover, patients with RA had significantly enhanced urinary excretion of 8-iso-PGF2α compared to controls [323 (221–515) vs 172 (91–292) pg/mg creatinine,
Discussion
Epidemiological studies revealed a limited predictive value of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in RA, thus underlining the need to find reliable biomarkers of atherothrombotic risk in autoimmune inflammatory diseases [5], [6], [7].
Platelets seem to contribute to the development of atherosclerosis by secreting mediators of cell adhesion, proliferation, and inflammatory response [10].
The ex vivo measurement of platelet responses to various agonists provides an index of the functional
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a European Commission FP6 EICOSANOX grant (LSHM-CT-2004-005033). This publication reflects only the authors’ views. The Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of information herein.
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