Background/Purpose:

Interferon (IFN) exerts antiviral and antineoplastic activities, and is involved in immunoregulatory activities. IFN probably plays an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease. IFN is eliminated from the bloodstream, with a half-life of 2 h, it is difficult to detect IFN concentrations in the sera. IFN, similar to other cytokines, exerts its biological activities by binding to cell-surface receptors. In this study, we evaluated the serum concentrations of soluble IFN α/β receptor (sIFNR) in patients with RA.

Methods:

The study involved 57 patients (11 men and 46 women) with RA who met the American College of Rheumatology 1987 RA classification criteria. The patients were aged 31 – 85 y (mean age, 61.2 y). The control group consisted of 16 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee and 216 healthy subjects, (mean age, 57.1 y and 52.3 y, respectively); the sIFNR concentrations of these subjects were determined. All the subjects recruited in this study were negative for hepatitis B surface antigens and hepatitis C antibodies. Blood samples were obtained from the subjects, and serum fractions separated from the blood samples were stored at -80 degree, until the assay was performed.

Results:

The serum concentrations of sIFNR in RA patients that varied from 0.7 to 5.8 ng/ml (mean, +/- SD: 2.1 +/- 1.2 ng/ml) and were significantly higher than those in the OA patients (mean, +/- SD: 1.4 +/- 0.7 ng/ml: p < 0.03) and the healthy subjects (mean, +/- SD: 1.0 +/- 0.5 ng/ml: p < 0.001). The serum levels of sIFNR in the RA patients with radiographic stage scores of II, III, and IV were 1.0 +/- 0.2 ng/ml, 1.3 +/- 0.3 ng/ml, and 2.5 +/- 1.2 ng/ml, respectively. The serum levels of sIFNR in the RA patients with activities of daily living (ADL) scores of 2, 3, and 4 were 1.2 +/- 0.2 ng/ml, 2.5 +/- 1.0 ng/ml, and 3.8 +/- 1.5 ng/ml, respectively. The serum levels of sIFNR in the RA patients were positively correlated with the disease durations (r = 0.55: p < 0.0001).

Conclusion:

In this study, we observed that the serum levels of sIFNR in the RA patients were significantly higher than those in the OA patients and the healthy subjects. A significant correlation was observed between the serum levels of sIFNR in the RA patients and the RA stage scores, ADL scores, and disease durations. Therefore, serum levels of sIFNR might be a useful predictor for the prognosis of chronic conditions and RA.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/serum-concentrations-of-soluble-interferon-receptor-in-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis/