Clinical significance of serum levels of ferritin, interleukins 6 and 17A in rheumatoid arthritis

Volkava M.V., Kundzer А.V., Generalov I.I., Zheleznjak N.V., Senkovich S.A.

Institute of Advanced Training and Retraining of Personnel of the Belarusian State Medical University, Minsk
LLC «Dinastia Med», Minsk, Belarus
Vitebsk State Medical University, Vitebsk, Belarus

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by significant clinical polymorphism. To optimize the treatment of RA, it is necessary to develop a personalized approach based on the determination of the value of various biomarkers in the clinical course of RA. The aim of this work was to determine the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and ferritin in RA and to establish their effect on the clinical course of RA.
Methods. The object of the study was 62 patients with RA and 33 healthy volunteers. Serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 17A (IL-17A), and ferritin were determined. The study of the interrelationships of the studied indicators with clinical and laboratory-instrumental parameters was carried out.
Results. The study found an increase in the levels of cytokines IL-6 and IL-17A, as well as ferritin in RA compared with the control group (p<0.05). Subsequently, all patients were divided into three groups depending on the level of ferritin established in the study.
The presence of differences in the main clinical and immunological parameters between the groups was analyzed. Differences in CRP levels were found between the study groups, it was the lowest in the low ferritin group compared to the other two groups (p<0.05). The levels of IL-17A and IL-6 did not differ between the groups (p>0.05).
Conclusions. Serum ferritin is a promising and affordable biomarker in RA and can be used for personalized assessment of the condition of a patient with RA, differential diagnosis of anemia, and risk assessment of macrophage activation syndrome. The pathogenetic pathways of ferritin regulation in RA require further study.