الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis is the most severe and most destructive of all joint diseases. RA is a chronic multisystemic auto-inflammatory disease. The hallmark of RA consists of synovial joint inflammation, leading to bone and cartilage destruction. Symptoms such as joint pain, swelling, and fatigue are disease-specific stressors that tax the adaptive resources of patients and heighten the risk for patient reported declines in function as well as reports of emotional disturbance which together create enormous psychological and financial loss for RA patients.
Interleukin 18, a member of the IL-1 superfamily of cytokines, is associated with proinflammatory properties and has been demonstrated to be an important mediator of both innate and adaptive immune responses. IL-18 is present at increased levels in serum and in the rheumatoid synovium, as well as in the bone marrow in many human rheumatologic conditions, including juvenile RA, adult-onset Still disease, and psoriatic arthritis. But, the exact role of IL-18 in pathogenesis of RA is still controversy and need further study.
The aim of the current study is to demonstrate whether serum IL-18 is increased in RA and its correlation with disease activity, functional disability and quality of life in RA patients.
The study included 30 RA patients and 20 healthy normal control subjects. The RA patients were diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA with exclusion of those who had diabetes mellitus, endocrine disorders, associated rheumatologic diseases, viral hepatitis B or C and other diseases with increased serum IL-18 level.