الفهرس 
AcknowledgementOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Summary and conclusion
This study was carried out on 50 individuals attending inpatients and outpatients clinics of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Benha University Hospital.
They were divided into two groups:
Group I
Include 30 adult patients suffering from RA defined according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised criteria for classification of rheumatoid arthritis.
Group II
Include 20 healthy subjects of matched age, sex and socioeconomic class with the patients.
The aim of our study is to measure serum level of IL-22 in patients with RA and correlate it with disease activity and severity.
All patients were subjected to the following:
1- Full history taking
2- Complete clinical examination.
3- Locomotors system examination.
4- Assessment of disease activity using Disease Activity Score -28(DAS-28).
5- Laboratory investigations includes:
Complete blood picture (CBC)
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)
C reactive protein (CRP)
Rheumatoid factor titer (RF) if positive.
Measurement of serum IL-22using enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA).
5- Plain x-ray on both hands.
The result of our study were calculated, tabulated and statistically analyzed.
The results of this study were as follows:
There was high statistically significant increase in serum levels of IL-22 in RA patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.001)
There were high statistically significant differences (P<0.001) in mean serum IL-22 levels according to disease activity grading (DAS28 score) among RA patients being higher in sever disease activity.
There was high statistically significant difference (P <0.001) in mean serum levels of IL-22 being higher in RA patients with RF positive than RF negative patients.
There was statistically significant difference (P<0.05) in mean serum levels of IL-22 being higher in RA patients with CRP positive than CRP negative patients.
There were high statistically significant differences (P<0.001) in mean serum levels of IL-22 according to radiological grading among RA patients.
There were high statistically significant positive correlations (p<0.001) between serum IL-22 and TJC, VAS, DAS28, CRP, RF titer in RA patients.
There were statistical significant positive correlations (p<0.05) between serum IL-22 and morning stiffness, SJC, ESR in RA patients.
There were no statistical significant correlation (p>0.05) between serum IL-22 and age, disease duration, HB %in RA patients.
Conclusion:
from this study, our data suggest a potential role of IL-22 as an additional tool for assessment of disease activity in RA patients especially with RF positive and it may be helpful in identifying patients with more destructive disease.
So, we may suggest that IL-22 adds to other cytokines a pathogenic role in RA suggesting that targeting them might be a useful therapeutic strategy in RA.