ANALYSIS OF TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR -ALPHA(TNF- ) SYNTHESIS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA)

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common types of arthritis worldwide, especially in the
elderly. A wide range of cytokines and inflammatory mediators are expressed in the joints in RA.
However, TNF-$ is placed at the heart of the inflammatory process in RA. The aim of this work was to
compare spontaneous and LPS induced TNF-$ production between early and late RA patients which
affect the treatment regimen, and to detect the association of TNF-$ –308A/G polymorphism in Egyptian
patients with RA using PCR-RFLP.Our results shows that LPS induced TNF-$ production is high in late
RA patients (disease duration > 1 year) not early patients (disease duration < 1 year). Also this study
found no association between TNF-$ –308A/G polymorphism in Egyptian patients with RA.
Key Indexing Terms:
Lipopolysaccharide, tumor necrosis factor, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, rheumatoid arthritis,
308(a/g) tnf-$ polyorphism.