To investigate the presence of autoantibodies (aAbs) against interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F and observe whether anti-IL-17A or IL-17F aAbs are associated with disease activity in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA).
At present, 60 patients with ERA, 72 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and 61 healthy controls (HC) have been included in a database. Clinical assessment and laboratory data were recorded. We detected the titer of aAbs against IL-17A and IL-17F using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and analyzed the correlation of these aAbs in patients with ERA.
Our results showed that the levels of aAbs against IL-17A and IL-17F were significantly higher in ERA OA and HC (P < 0.0001). The level of aAbs against IL-17F was correlated with Disease Activity Score-28 erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (P = 0.0457) and ESR alone (P = 0.0032) in patients with ERA. In addition, in the ERA group, the level of C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor immunoglobulin M was lower in patients with aAbs against IL-17F than patients without aAbs (P = 0.0247; P = 0.0439). No significant correlation was observed between the clinical characteristics and level of aAbs against IL-17A in patients with ERA except ESR (P = 0.0239).
Elevated aAbs against IL-17F correlate with disease activity in patients with ERA. This evidence suggests that anti-IL-17F aAbs may have a protective role in the pathogenesis of ERA.