J Korean Med Sci.  2012 May;27(5):484-488. 10.3346/jkms.2012.27.5.484.

Serum Elastin-Derived Peptides and Anti-Elastin Antibody in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis

• Hong YJ
• Kim J
• Oh BR
• Lee YJ
• Lee EY
• Lee EB
• Lee SH
• Song YW

• KMID: 1372788
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2012.27.5.484

Abstract

The elastin metabolism in systemic sclerosis (SSc) has been known to be abnormal. The authors investigated relationship between the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and serum levels of soluble elastin-derived peptide (S-EDP) and anti-elastin antibodies. Serum samples were obtained from 79 patients with SSc and 79 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Concentrations of serum S-EDP and anti-elastin antibodies were measured by ELISA. The serum concentrations of S-EDP in SSc patients were significantly higher than in healthy controls (median, 144.44 ng/mL vs 79.59 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Serum EDP concentrations were found to be correlated with disease duration in SSc (P = 0.002) and particularly in diffuse cutaneous SSc (P = 0.005). Levels of anti-elastin antibodies were found to be more elevated in SSc patients than in healthy controls (median, 0.222 U vs 0.191 U, P = 0.049), more increased in diffuse cutaneous SSc than limited cutaneous SSc (median, 0.368 U vs 0.204 U, P = 0.031). In addition, levels of anti-elastin antibodies were also found to be negatively associated with presence of anti-centromere antibody (P = 0.023). The S-EDP levels were not found to be correlated with levels of anti-elastin antibodies. The increased S-EDP and anti-elastin antibody levels and association with clinical and laboratory characteristics may reflect the abnormal metabolism in SSc.

Keyword

Elastin; Elastin-Derived Peptide; Systemic Sclerosis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/*blood/immunology
Centromere/immunology
Elastin/*blood/immunology
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Peptides/*blood/immunology
Scleroderma, Systemic/*metabolism/pathology

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Serum concentrations of S-EDP in SSc patients. Serum concentrations of S-EDP in SSc patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (P < 0.001, by Mann-Whitney U test). The thick horizontal lines in boxes are medians and the upper and lower sides of the boxes represent upper and lower quartiles, respectively. The horizontal bars above and below each box represent highest and lowest values within the 1.5 times of interquartile range and circles represent outliers.

• 

  Fig. 2 The levels of S-EDP and disease durations in systemic sclerosis. The levels of S-EDP and disease durations were correlated in systemic sclerosis (Spearman's ρ = 0.346, P = 0.002) and especially diffuse cutaneous subtype (Spearman's ρ = 0.429, P = 0.005).

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