SERUM LEVELS OF SOLUBLE FAS APO-1 RECEPTOR ARE INCREASED IN SYSTEMIC-SCLEROSIS/

It has been suggested that rheumatic diseases may result from a defici t in Fas-mediated T-cell apoptosis, Recent studies have demonstrated i ncreased soluble Fas in sera from lupus erythematosus patients. We wer e interested to determine whether elevated soluble Fas levels are asso ciated with systemic sclerosis Soluble Fas levels were retrospectively assayed using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum f rom 30 patients with systemic sclerosis and 15 normal controls. Hospit al medical records were retrospectively reviewed for clinical and labo ratory characteristics of the patients. Soluble Fas levels were analys ed in subsets of patients with limited (lcSSc) versus diffuse cutaneou s systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) and correlated with inflammatory activity . In systemic sclerosis soluble Fas serum levels (lcSSc, 2.19 +/- 0.71 ng/ml, dcSSc 2.53 +/- 1.37 ng/ml) were significantly higher than in n ormal controls (1.26 +/- 0.36 ng/ml), However, there were no significa nt differences in soluble Fas levels between lcSSc and dcSSc and poor correlation between soluble Fas levels and inflammatory activity statu s. Detection of elevated soluble Fas might serve as a clinical marker for immunological dysregulation in systemic sclerosis, but not for inf lammatory disease activity.