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Interleukin-18 Involved In Some Cytokine Responses To Rheumatoid Arthritis
A DGReview of :"Interferon-Gamma-inducing activity of interleukin-18 in the joint with rheumatoid arthritis"
Arthritis & Rheumatism
03/23/2001
By Robert Short
Interleukin-18 bioactivity in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients, relative to oesteoarthritic patients, supports the hypothesis that this cytokine has a role in perpetuating the IFNg-dominant T-cell cytokine response in rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Masahiro Yamamura, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan, and colleagues examined the levels of interleukin (IL)-18 bioactivity in joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis and joints affected by osteoarthritis. They also studied the effects of IL-12 and IL-18 on interferon-g (IFNg) production by T-cell infiltrates.
They found that the amount of IL-18 protein detected in both the serum and synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients was markedly larger than that detected in oesteoarthritis patients, and that serum IL-18 levels correlated with the levels of serum C-reactive protein.
They concluded that the IL-18 was predominantly produced by tissue macrophages and potentiates IL-12-induced IFNg production by T-cell infiltrates in rheumatoid arthritis synovium.
Said Dr Yamamura, "Detection of significant IL-18 bioactivity in the joints, despite the presence of IL-18 binding inhibitors, supports an integral role of this cytokine in perpetuating the IFNg-dominant T-cell cytokine response in rheumatoid arthritis."
Arthritis and Rheumatism 2001;44(2):275-285.
"Interferon-Gamma-inducing activity of interleukin-18 in the joint with rheumatoid arthritis"
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