To study the changes and the effects of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor I (sT-NFR I) in patients with rheumatic fever, and to find out the laboratorial marker of clinic activity in patients with rheumatic fever.
The serum concentrations of sTNFR I in 16 patients with ARF, 16 patients with chronic inactive rheumatic heart disease (CRHD) and 15 healthy controls were measured by methods of ELISA and the relationship between sTNFR I and ESR or CRP were studied.
The sTNFR I serum concentrations in patients with ARF (3.92 +/- 1.28) ng.ml-1 were significantly higher than those with CRHD (1.43 +/- 0.66) ng.ml-1 and healthy controls (1.06 +/- 0.42) ng.ml-1 (all P < 0.01). The serum concentrations of sTNFR I in patients with CRHD were almost the same with those in healthy controls (P > 0.05); Their positive correlation was significantly observed between sTNFR I and CRP(P < 0.001), and wasn't observed between sTNFR I and ESR.
The Patients with ARF have high serum levels of sTNFR I. It may be used as the laboratorial marker in the clinic assessment of activity in patients with rheumatic fever.