Adhesion molecule in untreated inflammatory arthritis

Adhesion molecules play a critical role in regulating leucocyte migration at sites of inflammation. The relationship of soluble forms in serum or synovial fluid (SF) to synovial membrane expression in inflammatory arthritis is controversial. We examined soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin levels in matched serum and SF, and their relationship to expression in synovium obtained at the same time in 13 patients with previously untreated inflammatory arthritis, Serum-soluble (s)ICAM-1 correlated with sedimentation rate (T=0.45), Ritchie articular index (T=0.47) and SF sICAM-1 (T=0.48), and SF sICAM-1 correlated with membrane ICAM-1 expression (p