REVIEWS   

Minerva Medica 1999 November-December;90(11-12):437-42

Copyright © 1999 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

YKL 40: a marker of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis?

Morgante M., Di Munno O., Morgante D.

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis the serum and synovial fluid levels of a glycoprotein called YKL 40 are correlated to the severity of disease. YKL 40 may be related to disease activity in RA; it is induced by vitamina D and is reduced by TGF b. YKL 40 has been isolated from bovine mammary secretions during non lactating period and from Human osteosarcoma cell line MG-63. Some observations on experimental and clinical studies are presented.