With rheumatoid arthritis, early detection of the disease is crucial for getting the most out of treatments that prevent progression – but what if you could find out you were going to get rheumatoid arthritis, several years in advance of the disease affecting your wellness? Swedish researchers have identified certain factors that increase significantly prior to onset of rheumatoid arthritis, and a simple blood test could let you know if you need to guard your wellbeing against the disease.
Various cytokines, cytokine-related factors, and chemokines will all rise prior to onset of rheumatoid arthritis, a condition which is characterized by inflammation of the joints involving the synovial (fluid that lubricates the joints) tissue. This causes pain, stiffness, redness, and swelling around your joints, as the disease damages and destroys your cartilage and joints over time, which limits your movement. Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease, which means it can also affect other organs in your body.
Cytokines are proteins capable of regulating your body’s inflammatory responses, and these are active in the synovial tissue of people who have already developed disease symptoms. Yet, if you are able to identify elevated levels of certain cytokines years before symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis occur, you and your doctor will be able to then immediately take preventive steps which could drastically improve your quality of life.
For the study, the Swedish research team analysed the blood samples of 86 pre-patients, or individuals before the appearance of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, 69 of the pre-patients after the onset of symptoms, and 256 healthy controls. After this, the researchers examined the plasma levels of 30 cytokines, related factors, and chemokines, and found that the main difference between the rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls was the presence of Th1 cell-, Th2 cell-, and Treg cell-related cytokines. The researchers also found chemokines, proinflammatory cytokines, and cytokine-related factors in those who developed rheumatoid arthritis.
The early symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, such as aching joints and morning stiffness, can be subtle, and so the disease is often difficult to diagnose. This makes the use of a blood test so helpful, as early diagnosis using the blood test will also allow your doctor to rule out other diseases with symptoms similar to those in rheumatoid arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and lupus.
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