Urinary neopterin reflects clinical activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Neopterin is a marker for activation of cellular immunity. Urinary neopterin levels were measured in 106 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in 45 patients with osteoarthritis. Levels were significantly higher in RA patients than in osteoarthritis patients and were strongly dependent on stage and activity of RA. Correlations with other laboratory parameters were weak. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that urinary neopterin levels reflected clinical activity better than did other laboratory findings. Thus, urinary neopterin determination might be useful in monitoring RA patients.Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by a chronic hypertrophic synovitis which invades the cartilage and bone structures, thus leading to destruction of connective tissue. The etiologic agents which initiate the activation of a cascade of proihflammatory systems within the joint space, and catalyze a self--

Neopterin as a biomarker of immune response in cancer patients

“…As would be expected, high neopterin concentrations have also been reported in patients with different autoimmune disorders (58,59) such as rheumatoid arthritis (58) or systemic lupus erythematosus (60 Neopterin is also increased in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (59,61,62). Neopterin as a biomarker in autoimmune diseases may be of great interest with the introduction of monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints.…”

Neopterin and Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability in Coronary and Carotid Arteries

“…As mentioned above, in addition to cardiovascular diseases, increased neopterin production occurs in non-cardiovascular diseases, such as infections 23) , autoimmune diseases 24) , cancer 25) and allograft rejection 26) ; there- fore, it should be noted that increased neopterin production may occur in these non-cardiovascular diseases.…”

“…So far, there is increasing evidence of an association between neopterin and plaque insta-neopterin synthesis and released by activated macrophages is unknown, several studies suggest that neopterin can act as a pro-oxidant, enhancing oxidant production, and promoting cell death or atherosclerotic plaque instability 3,21,22) . Furthermore, because neopterin is biologically and chemically stable and relatively easy to measure by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) 3) , it has been investigated as a marker of immune cell activation in a wide range of diseases, such as infection 23) , autoimmune disease 24) , cancer 25) and allograft rejection 26) . Recently, assays for neopterin have been performed with a commercially available ELISA kit.…”

The Importance of Neopterin as a Laboratory Diagnostic Marker of Immune Activation

“…In rheumatoid arthritis, high neopterin concentrations are found in blood or urine, following the course of disease. Highest levels are seen in the synovial f1uid during relapse (69,70). Neopterin measurement can be applied as an additional criterion to discriminate rheumatoid arthritis from osteoarthritis, because in the latter case, neopterin concentrations are usually within the normal range (69).…”

“…Highest levels are seen in the synovial f1uid during relapse (69,70). Neopterin measurement can be applied as an additional criterion to discriminate rheumatoid arthritis from osteoarthritis, because in the latter case, neopterin concentrations are usually within the normal range (69). In patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), extremdy high neopterin concentrations are found in the active state of the disease (71,72 ).…”