ISSN : 2663-2187

Investigating of C-reactive protein and Interleukin-6 as Predictive Inflammatory Biomarkers in the Progression and Therapeutic Response of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Dr. Ayesha Tariq, Dr Muhammad Saeed, Dr Abdul Sadiq, Dr Qurratulain,Dr. Afshan Zareen Bilal, Dr.Marium Shoukat, Dr. Farah naz tahir
ยป doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.15.2024.10249-10260

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease associated with inflammation, joint damage, and the loss of function. The finding of reliable biomarkers is important to monitor the disease progression as well as the treatment response. C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) are inflammatory markers that have received interest in forecasting disease severity, progression, and therapeutic response in RA patients. Though inflammatory, the extent of prognostic accuracy offered by CRP and IL-6 in the case of RA for example has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Objective: The broad objective of this study is to evaluate the use of CRP and IL-6 as predictive biomarkers of disease progression and treatment response in RA. The present study examined their effects on disease activity, possible relationships with joint damage, and their effectiveness in assessing treatment response for the follow-up period. Methods: There is a cohort of 150 rheumatoid arthritis patients enrolled in this study and followed for one year sequentially. Comparison of serum levels of CRP and IL-6 at baseline and follow-up was also done at specific intervals precisely in high-sensitivity assays. Assessment of disease activity was analyzed by using Disease Activity Score (DAS28) while radiographic joint destruction was assessed by use of X-ray and MRI. This response was measured according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) response including ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70. Results: The current study shows that both CRP and IL6 are raised before the commencement of DMARD therapy and inflamed joints have a high disease activity index with great erosive changes. In addition, Patients who respond well to ACR 50 and above showed significantly decreased CRP and IL-6 suggesting that those parameters can be used as dynamic parameters in assessing treatment response. Patients with inflammatory arthritis showed that they have demonstrated lowering trends in almost every biomarker wherein in the case of IL-6, it appeared to be more LC-DA helpful. Conclusions: CRP and IL-6 biomarkers have great potential for use in forecasting the course of RA and the effectiveness of conducted therapy. Elevated baseline tests confirm the more active disease and a decrease following treatment means a good response to therapy. Assessment of these biomarkers should offer help in improving individual therapy management procedures, as it would be possible to individualize the treatment based on clinical activity status. In our opinion, however, this search should also expand the studies of their prognostic capacity in larger and heterogeneous samples of RA patients in the future and clarify the recommendations on when to change the treatment.

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