Increased levels of thymosin β4 in synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: association of thymosin β4 with other factors that are involved in inflammation and bone erosion in joints

Choi HM, Lee YA, Yang HI, Yoo MC, Kim KS · International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases

Synovial-fluid Tβ4 averaged 145 ± 88 ng/mL in osteoarthritis and 1,359 ± 1,685 ng/mL in rheumatoid arthritis. In rheumatoid joints it tracked MMP-9, MMP-13, VEGF, urokinase plasminogen activator, IL-6 and IL-8; in osteoarthritic joints it tracked none of them.

Population

Synovial fluid from patients with osteoarthritis and with rheumatoid arthritis

Intervention

None — observational measurement

Comparator

Osteoarthritis versus rheumatoid arthritis joints

Limitations

Cross-sectional correlation with wide variance in the RA group; cannot separate Tβ4 as a driver of erosion from Tβ4 as a marker of how inflamed the joint is.