Do Survivin and HER-2/neu Play a Role in Rheumatoid Arthritis?
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- Category: Vol. 77, March 2009
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Do Survivin and HER-2/neu Play a Role in Rheumatoid Arthritis?
MARIANNE S. MAKBOUL, HALA MAHMOUD, GEHAN HAMDY and MOHAMAD R. ALMASRY
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory joint disease characterized by hyperplasia of synovial tissue and pannus formation growing invasively into the cartilage, followed by cartilage and bone destruction. In RA, the proliferation of synovial fibroblasts and their invasive growth are due to impairment in the regulation of the cell cycle. Survivin belongs to the apoptosis-inhibiting proteins (IAP) family and regulates the inflammatory and destructive process inside the joints of patients with RA. RA Synovial Fibroblasts (SFs) over express the ErbB2/HER2 member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor family relative to normal fibroblasts. The aim was to study the role of survivin and HER-2/neu in the pathogenesis of RA and the association between their level and the presence of erosion in RA patients and evaluation of the possible influence of the ongoing treatment on their serum level. In this study, serum survivin and serum HER-2/neu levels were measured in 35 erosive and non-erosive RA patients and compared with age and sex matched healthy population. There was a statistically significant difference in serum HER-2/neu between RA patients and controls and also between RA patients treated with methotrexate and those treated with methotrexate and others. There was a statistically significant difference in the serum level of survivin between erosive and non-erosive RA patients.