PMID- 16855171 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20060823 LR - 20151119 IS - 0077-8923 (Print) IS - 0077-8923 (Linking) VI - 1069 DP - 2006 Jun TI - Nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with TNF-alpha blockers. PG - 438-43 AB - Twenty consecutive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (mean age 50.4 +/- 10.5 years; 17 females; mean disease duration 5.78 +/- 3.75 years) enrolled for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) blockers therapy (10 infliximab and 10 etanercept) were selected. Before starting therapy, 3 and 6 months thereafter all patients were evaluated for disease activity score (DAS), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), nerve growth factor (NGF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). After 3 and 6 months a significant reduction in DAS, ESR, CRP, and IL-6 was observed, whereas no significant differences of NGF and BDNF serum levels were found. These preliminary results confirm that TNF-alpha blockers significantly improve disease activity and inflammation in RA; nevertheless further studies are needed to explain the mechanisms regulating NGF and BDNF release in RA patients treated with TNF-alpha blockers. FAU - del Porto, Flavia AU - del Porto F AD - Cattedra e U.O.C di Allergologia, Immunologia Clinica e Reumatologia, II Facolta di Medicina e. Chirurgia, Universita La Sapienza, Ospedale Sant'Andrea, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1039, 00189 Roma, Italy. flavia.delporto@uniroma1.it FAU - Aloe, Luigi AU - Aloe L FAU - Lagana, Bruno AU - Lagana B FAU - Triaca, Viviana AU - Triaca V FAU - Nofroni, Italo AU - Nofroni I FAU - D'Amelio, Raffaele AU - D'Amelio R LA - eng PT - Clinical Trial PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PL - United States TA - Ann N Y Acad Sci JT - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences JID - 7506858 RN - 0 (Antibodies, Monoclonal) RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (Immunoglobulin G) RN - 0 (Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor) RN - 0 (Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha) RN - 9061-61-4 (Nerve Growth Factor) RN - B72HH48FLU (Infliximab) RN - OP401G7OJC (Etanercept) SB - IM MH - Antibodies, Monoclonal/*therapeutic use MH - Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*blood/immunology/*therapy MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*blood MH - Etanercept MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Immunoglobulin G/*therapeutic use MH - Immunotherapy MH - Infliximab MH - Male MH - Middle Aged MH - Nerve Growth Factor/*blood MH - Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/*therapeutic use MH - Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/*immunology/*metabolism EDAT- 2006/07/21 09:00 MHDA- 2006/08/24 09:00 CRDT- 2006/07/21 09:00 PHST- 2006/07/21 09:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2006/08/24 09:00 [medline] PHST- 2006/07/21 09:00 [entrez] AID - 1069/1/438 [pii] AID - 10.1196/annals.1351.042 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Jun;1069:438-43. doi: 10.1196/annals.1351.042.