Open AccessInterleukin‐23 and its correlation with disease activity, joint damage, and functional disability in rheumatoid arthritis
Author(s) -
Dalila Adnan Siti,
Mohd Said Mohd Shahrir,
Shaharir Syahrul Sazliyana,
Asrul Abdul Wahab,
Low Soo Fin,
Shamsul Azhar Shah,
Sakthiswary Rajalingham
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the kaohsiung journal of medical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.439
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 2410-8650
pISSN - 1607-551X
DOI - 10.1016/j.kjms.2014.02.010
Subject(s) - medicine , rheumatoid arthritis , odds ratio , confidence interval , logistic regression , gastroenterology , arthritis , disease
The purpose of this study was to compare the serum interleukin (IL)‐23 levels between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and healthy controls and to determine the correlation of IL‐23 levels with disease activity, joint damage and functional disability in RA. Serum samples were obtained from 45 patients with RA and 45 healthy controls. The enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay method was used for quantitative analysis of IL‐23. All the RA patients were assessed for disease activity based on the 28‐joint disease activity score, joint damage based on modified Sharp score, and functional ability using the Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index. The mean serum IL‐23 level was much higher among the RA patients (24.50 ± 13.98 pg/mL) compared to the controls (5.98 ± 3.40 pg/mL; p < 0.01). There was a significant positive relationship between IL‐23 levels and disease activity and questionnaire scores ( p = 0.003 and 0.020, respectively). On logistic regression analysis, IL‐23 levels were significantly higher in patients with moderate to high disease activity ( p = 0.008, odds ratio = 1.073, 95% confidence interval = 1.019–1.130) and patients with significant functional disability ( p = 0.008, odds ratio = 1.085, 95% confidence interval = 1.021–1.153). RA patients have significantly higher levels of serum IL‐23. The IL‐23 levels correlate well with disease activity and functional disability but not with radiographic joint damage.