Objectives: To evaluate the association between disease activity and serum levels of pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) and lysosomal-associated membrane protein-2 (LAMP-2) as well as the acute reactants in Chinese Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) patients.
Methods: The serum PTX-3 and LAMP-2 levels were tested in 98 TAK patients and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The disease activity of these TAK patients was assessed according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Abatacept in giant cell arteritis and Takayasu's arteritis (AGATA) criteria, respectively.
Results: Among the 98 TAK patients, 45 and 52 patients had active disease according to the NIH criteria and AGATA criteria respectively. The total agreement rate between these two criteria was 90.82% (κ=0.817, p<0.001). Both serum PTX-3 and LAMP-2 levels were elevated in TAK patients compared with those in healthy controls (PTX- 3: 0.32±0.03 ng/ml vs. 0.18±0.02 ng/ ml, p=0.001; LAMP-2: 4.40±0.14 ng/ ml vs. 3.30±0.20 ng/ml, p<0.001). TAK patients with active disease had higher serum PTX-3 levels compared with those who had inactive disease (NIH criteria: 0.42±0.06 ng/ml vs. 0.25±0.02 ng/ml, p=0.004; AGATA criteria: 0.38±0.05 ng/ml vs. 0.27±0.02 ng/ml, p=0.049). However, serum LAMP-2 levels did not differ between patients with active and inactive disease according to both NIH and AGATA criteria. A cutoff value of PTX-3 with 0.30 ng/ml maximised the ability of disease activity assessment with a sensitivity/specificity of 57.10%/73.10% and 47.90%/71.10% according to the NIH and AGATA criteria, respectively.
Conclusions: Serum PTX-3 and LAMP- 2 levels are elevated in Chinese TAK patients. However, serum PTX-3 but not LAMP-2 level is associated with active disease.