Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） in early spondyloarthropathy patients

Objective: To explore the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） in synovium and understand its correlation with the pathogenesis of early spondyloarthropathy（SpA）. Methods: VEGF mRNA and protein were detected by means of in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry.Synovial levels of VEGF protein expression was evaluated to make sure whether it correlated with disease activity and macroscopic observation during arthroscopy. Results: Significant correlations were found between VEGF expression in synovium lining layer region and CRP in early SpA,between VEGF expression in perivascular region and CRP in early RA,and between VEGF expression in synovium lining layer region and sub-lining region and PLT in early RA.The expression of VEGF demonstrated its correlation with vascular morphology（VM） and straight vessels（SV） in synovium lining layer in early SpA synovial membrane.The correlation was found between VEGF expression and synovial hypertrophy in perivascular region in early SpA synovial membrane.Other correlations were found between VEGF expression and vascular morphology,tortuous vessels and vascular density in early RA synovium lining layer region. Conclusion: The high correlation between VEGF expression in perivascular region and synovial hypertrophy in SpA may be potentially useful new markers of SpA disease activities.