Role of C-C chemokines in Takayasu's arteritis disease.

Background: Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic obliterative inflammatory disease. Inflammatory cell infiltration and destruction of the vessel wall in TA strongly suggest that cell mediated immunological mechanisms play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Therefore, in the present study our aim was to focus on the role of chemokines and adhesion molecules in patients with Takayasu's disease.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with clinically defined TA and 21 healthy control volunteers were recruited by using the standard criteria. Patients with TA were divided into those with clear-cut clinically active or inactive disease based on vasculitis activity score.

Results: MCP-1 and hRANTES were significantly increased in patients with TA as compared to controls. MCP-1 and hRANTES values were reliably able to distinguish between patients with active disease vs. subjects in remission. sVCAM-1 levels remained unaltered between patients and controls.

Conclusions: C-C chemokines can be used as reliable markers/diagnostic tools in determining the activity of Takayasu's arteritis.