Soluble HLA-DR antigen levels in serum correlate with rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and the presence of disease-associated epitopes.
 
Soluble HLA-DR antigen levels in serum correlate with rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and the presence of disease-associated epitopes. ■
 
Leon Verbruggen, N. Dumarey, Hilde Van De Velde, V. Rebmann, J. Flament, C. Van Waeyenberge, H. Grosse-Wilde, Christian Demanet
 
Abstract ■

We investigated correlations between soluble HLA-DR (sHLA-DR) molecules and several clinical, biological and genetic parameters associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity. Serum sHLA-DR concentrations were determined in 146 samples from 89 RA patients by an ELISA format, using an antibody combination of mouse and rat monoclonal anti-human HLA-DR antibodies. The mean sHLA-DR serum level in RA patients was significantly increased with 277±19 ng/ml compared to 142±13 ng/ml of 80 healthy controls (P