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Visfatin levels linked to disease activity in certain patients with myositis
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Patients with myositis who had positive anti-Jo-1 antibody status had higher serum levels of visfatin linked to higher clinical muscle involvement based on a VAS, according to recently published research.
Researchers studied a group of 38 patients with myositis, 27 with polymyositis (PM) and 11 with dermatomyositis (DM), who were regularly followed at the Institute of Rheumatology in Prague. Longitudinal blood samples were available from 16 patients, and immunohistochemistry was available from 10 patients taken at the time of muscle biopsy. Muscle tissue from five patients with myasthenia gravis were used as noninflammatory control samples and a control group of 35 healthy participants were matched for age and sex.
Serum levels of creatine kinase, myoglobin, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, visfatin and B-cell activating factor (BAFF) were measured.
Analysis showed serum levels of visfatin were significantly higher in patients with myositis compared to healthy participants, while no significant differences were observed between PM or DM. No differences in visfatin levels were observed between men and women, double-positive patients with both anti-Jo-1 and anti-Ro52 antibodies and patients without anti-Ro52 antibodies, and visfatin levels did not correlate with age or disease duration. Patients treated with glucocorticoids for less than 1 months had similar levels of visfatin compared to patients without the use of glucocorticoids, but levels decreased following treatment and reduction of symptoms, according to a VAS in the longitudinal samples available.
Visfatin and BAFF were associated with clinical muscle involvement on a VAS but not laboratory measures of disease activity. In muscle tissue, the expression of visfatin was seen in all patients with myositis and in more significant levels, compared to patients with myasthenia gravis. – by Shirley Pulawski
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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