Acute gouty arthritis (AGA) is one of the most common forms of auto-inflammatory arthritis. IL-17 is a key proinflammatory cytokine which has been implicated in several autoimmune diseases. However, to… Click to show full abstract
Acute gouty arthritis (AGA) is one of the most common forms of auto-inflammatory arthritis. IL-17 is a key proinflammatory cytokine which has been implicated in several autoimmune diseases. However, to date little is known about the role of IL-17 in AGA. In the present study, we show that serum IL-17 levels are significantly elevated in AGA patients early in the onset of symptoms of gout, and decrease gradually as symptoms diminish. Correlation analysis indicated that IL-17 expression is not only positively correlated with disease activity, but is also correlated with serum levels of IL-1β which plays a critical role in the differentiation of IL-17- γδT cells into IL-17+γδT cells. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that γδ T cells are a major source of IL-17 production during the early onset of AGA. We therefore identify IL-17 as a potential novel biomarker for AGA and suggest that targeting the γδ T cell/IL-17 immune axis is a potential strategy for treatment of acute flares of AGA.
               
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