الفهرس 
Introduction and Aim of theWork
Rheumatoid ArthritisOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by abnormal synovial proliferation with infiltration of various inflammatory cells leading to cartilage and bone destruction
(Koch AE, 2003).
It was reported that both synoviocytes and lymphocytes in the rheumatoid synovium expressed functional Fas/ APO-1 (CD95) antigen and these cells were sensitive to a Fas-mediated apoptosis (Nakajima T et ai,
Fas (APO-l/CD95) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor-R (TNF-R) family, a group of type I transmembrane proteins. (Ashkenazi A and Dixit V M, 1998).
This study was carried out on 70 rheumatoid arthritis patients.
They were recruited from the outpatient clinic of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department Minia University Hospital during the period from February 2007 till December 2007. Patients were diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1987 revised
..
criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis. Patients with
diabetes mellitus, hypertension, liver or renal disease will be excluded from the study. In addition, twenty healthy subjects were chosen as control of matched age and sex.
In the present study, we measure the level of surface fas (CD 95) on lymphocytes by flow cytometry in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Also we searched for its correlation with the clinical, radiological and laboratory
In conclusion, the current study demonstrated significant increase in Fas antigen levels in patients with RA than controls and showed highly significant correlations with most of parameters of disease activity. Therefore, Fas antigen can be considered as a disease marker and useful parameter to assess disease activity.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION parameters of disease activity and if it could be a dependable marker for activity and / or severity of the disease.
In the current study, F AS (%) was significantly higher in inactive and active group when compared with that of control group (p= 0.0000 in both). FAS (%) was significantly higher in active group when compared with that of inactive group (p=O.OOOO).
In this study, Fas (0/0) in all RA patients showed significant positive correlation with number of tender joints (r= 0.445, p-value= 0.000), Ritchie Articular Index (r= 0.442, p-value= 0.000), Das 28 score (r= 0.444, p-value= 0.000), radiological score (SENS) (r= 0.930, p-value= 0.000), ESR (r= 0.823, p-value= 0.000), Rheumatoid Factor (RF) Titer in positive patients (r= 0.900, p-value= 0.000), and CRP Titer in positive patients (r= 0.631, p-value= 0.000).
Also, Fas levels are likely to have an important role in management and
,
treatment of patients with RA, and to give important insights for
pathogenesis of the diseases. Suppression of this underlying immune activation may be an important target for novel therapies.