To determine the usefulness of sE-selectin as a marker for early diagnosis and stratification of rheumatoid arthritis.
We investigated several markers of disease activity, including circulating adhesion molecules and other standard laboratory tests, in a 2-3 year followup analysis of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
The mean +/- SD levels of sE-selectin (91.68 +/- 31.8 ng/ml versus 49.83 +/- 14.76 ng/ml) and rheumatoid factor (375.7 +/- 394.4 U versus 44.66 +/- 37.63 U) were strongly elevated in severe (n = 15) versus mild (n = 7) courses of disease. Statistical calculation of mean and standard deviation revealed that sE-selectin represents a highly significant marker for the presence of persistent and aggressive disease over time, regardless of therapeutic intervention and observation time points (P = 0.0004). Notably, regression analysis identified constant values for all parameters analyzed and, therefore, a stable course of the disease could be predicted from the beginning.
sE-selectin appears to be a powerful marker to predict the severity of rheumatoid arthritis.