Objective: To assess local expression and plasma levels of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).

Methods: Plasma and serum samples were obtained from 75 patients with GCA (20 of whom had experienced optic nerve ischemia in the previous 3 weeks and 24 of whom had experienced symptom onset in the previous 6 months and had no history of optic nerve ischemia) and 63 controls (35 age-matched healthy subjects, 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and 13 patients with chronic stable angina). In 9 patients in whom GCA was recently diagnosed, circulating levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, CCL2/monocyte chemotactic protein 1, CCL3/macrophage inflammatory protein 1α (MIP-1α), CCL4/MIP-1β, CCL11/eotaxin, CXCL9/monokine induced by interferon-γ, CXCL10/interferon-γ-inducible 10-kd protein, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interferon-γ, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and FasL were measured via a multiplexed cytometric assay. PTX3 and VEGF concentrations were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. PTX3 and CD68 expression were determined by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence on temporal artery samples.

Results: GCA patients with very recent optic nerve ischemia had significantly higher PTX3 and VEGF levels compared to other GCA patients and controls. GCA patients with a disease duration of <6 months had significantly higher PTX3 levels compared to other GCA patients and controls. Immunohistochemistry revealed selective PTX3 expression in the wall of inflamed arteries.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that local expression of PTX3 is a feature of vascular inflammation in GCA; elevated circulating levels of PTX3 identify patients with very recent optic nerve ischemia or a recent diagnosis. Optic nerve ischemia is also associated with increased circulating VEGF levels.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/art.33411DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

optic nerve
16
nerve ischemia
16
gca patients
12
vascular endothelial
8
endothelial growth
8
growth factor
8
giant cell
8
cell arteritis
8
patients
8
patients gca
8

Similar Publications

Normative measurements of the frontal nerve by magnetic resonance imaging in an Australia cohort.

Surg Radiol Anat

January 2025

Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia.

Purpose: To report the normative dimensions of the frontal nerve (FN) on fat-suppressed suppressed gadolinium (fs-gad) enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Method: A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent coronal fs-gad T1-weighted MRI. Orbits were excluded if there was unilateral or bilateral pathology of the FN or optic nerve sheath (ONS), incomplete MRI sequences, poor image quality or indiscernible FN on radiological assessment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Precis: Current optical coherence tomography normative sample data may not represent diverse human optic nerve anatomy to accurately classify all individuals with true glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Purpose: To compare optic nerve head (ONH) measurements between published values from an optical coherence tomography (OCT) normative database and a more diverse cohort of healthy individuals.

Patients And Methods: ONH parameters from healthy participants of the Michigan Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and Eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) program and the Topcon Maestro-1 normative cohort were compared.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The visual system of teleost fish grows continuously, which is a useful model for studying regeneration of the central nervous system. Glial cells are key for this process, but their contribution is still not well defined. We followed oligodendrocytes in the visual system of adult zebrafish during regeneration of the optic nerve at 6, 24, and 72 hours post-lesion and at 7 and 14 days post-lesion via the sox10:tagRFP transgenic line and confocal microscopy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

NLRX1 limits inflammatory neurodegeneration in the anterior visual pathway.

J Neuroinflammation

January 2025

Department of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.

Chronic innate immune activation in the central nervous system (CNS) significantly contributes to neurodegeneration in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Using multiple experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) models, we discovered that NLRX1 protects neurons in the anterior visual pathway from inflammatory neurodegeneration. We quantified retinal ganglion cell (RGC) density and optic nerve axonal degeneration, gliosis, and T-cell infiltration in Nlrx1 and wild-type (WT) EAE mice and found increased RGC loss and axonal injury in Nlrx1 mice compared to WT mice in both active immunization EAE and spontaneous opticospinal encephalomyelitis (OSE) models.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prcis: The discriminant function of glaucoma, obtained by the Laguna ONhE colorimetric program, significantly correlates with the BMO-MRW. Furthermore, the diagnostic capacity was inferior to other structural tests in POAG patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic capability for glaucoma and the correlation between peripapillary and macular parameters using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and optic nerve head hemoglobin (OHN Hb) levels assessed by the Laguna ONhE® software using colorimetric analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!