Serum and synovial fluid levels of matrix metalloproteinase-3 as a biomarker of joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease, characterized by chronic synovitis and erosive polyarthritis causing eventual joint destruction and disability. The diagnosis of RA combines the patient history of joint pain and stiffness, physical examination, imaging techniques, histological synovial analysis and laboratory tests including blood tests for serological biomarkers. Markers related to RA appear at different stages in the development of the disease, implying that each marker represents a different role in RA. Considering the common disease activity indicators are unspecific for arthritis, novel biomarkers such as inflammatory cytokines, destructive enzymes and breakdown products from components of cartilage, have been rapidly developed for predicting structural destruction progression in RA.