Kozhevnikov AN*, Pozdeeva NA, Maricheva ON, Murashko TV, Bogdanova SL, Derkach EA, Vissarionov SV and Novik GA
Introduction: Juvenile Arthritis (JA) is an autoimmune inflammatory joint disease. There is no reliable laboratory test for JA. Some researchers reported that the serum levels of calprotectin may be correlated with arthritis activity.
Materials and methods: Level of serum Calprotectin (sCal) was evaluated in 70 children with JIA (50 active JIA/20 inactive arthritis) and 20 adolescents with non-rheumatic joint disease. In comparison the serum level of IL6, TNF-alpha, and vimentin were assessed.
Results: Statistical analysis were revealed a correlation between sCalc and active erosive JA (R2=0.4159, T=4.336, OR erosive JA=3.3193, 95%CI 1,7006-6.4789, p=0.0079). Serum level of vimentin, IL6 and TNF-alpha were not always correlated with active stage JA and erosive joint damage (p>0,05). The ROC analysis of the sCalc showed that a cutoff point more of 2,9 µg/ ml may be high prognostic factor for related erosive JA (AUC 0,837 ± 0,0553, 95% CI 0,711-0.923).
Conclusions: The serum levels of calprotectin are significantly associated with erosive course of JA. These results suggest that calprotectin might be superior to serum IL6 and TNF-alpha for aggressive erosive course of JA.