Copper zinc superoxide dismutase enzyme for the detection of late apoptosis in synovial fluid and serum of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis

Abstract EN

A breakdown in the delicate balance between cell survival and apoptosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of rheumatic diseases.

This study aimed at assessing late apoptosis in the serum and synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) Egyptian patients.

The study included forty RA patients, Twenty OA patients as well as five patients with fresh knee trauma and five normal subjects.

Serum samples were collected from all of them, while synovial fluids were aspirated from the RA and OA patients and the five post-traumatic effusions.

Copper Zinc superoxide dismutase (CU/ Zn SOD) was quantified in the sera and synovial fluids as a marker of late apoptosis.

The results revealed that synovial Cu/Zn SOD could be used as a marker of late apoptosis in RA and OA patients as well as a marker of disease activity or severity.

Apoptosis plays a role in RA and OA pathogenesis that could open a new window for therapeutic interventions in these diseases.