Clinical usefulness of basic fibroblast growth factor and E-selectin in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Angiogenesis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study assesses basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) as an angiogenic factor and soluble E-selectin (sE-sel) as an angiogenic mediator in RA patients and correlates their levels in serum and synovial fluid (SF) with disease activity, functional status and joint derangement. Thirty RA patients and 15 osteoarthritis (OA) patients were clinically, radiologically and laboratory investigated.