The relationship of serum endocan levels and anti-TNF-alpha therapy in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

Objective: Endocan is a marker for vascular pathogenesis and important mediator of angiogenesisthat strongly associates with inflammation and vascular diseases. Growing evidence suggest thatinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) plays a role in its regulation and secretion,whereas TNF-alpha inhibitors may have the opposite influence. The aim of this research is to inves-tigate the association between serum endocan and anti-TNF-alpha drug treatment in patients withankylosing spondylitis (AS).Methods: Serum endocan levels were analyzed in 42 patients with AS under anti-TNF-alpha usage.Control group consisted of 37 patients with AS who are not receiving anti-TNF drugs. Endocan isanalyzed using ESM-1 ELISA kits. The blood glucose and lipid measurements of patients were alsoassessed.Results: There was no significant change in serum endocan levels among groups. The total choles-terol, triglyceride, and LDL-C levels were higher in patients receiving anti-TNF-alpha; however, differ-ences were not significant. There was no significant correlation between serum endocan levels andblood lipid measurements.Conclusion: Anti-TNF-alpha treatment does not affect serum endocan levels in patients with AS. Thisresearch has been first to evaluate the relationship between serum endocan and anti-TNF-alpha ther-apy in AS. Future studies are necessary to verify the exact role of anti-TNF-alpha therapy on serumendocan levels in patients with AS.