ELEVATED SERUM TRANSCOBALAMIN LEVELS IN ANEMIA OF RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - CORRELATION WITH DISEASE-ACTIVITY BUT NOT WITH SERUM TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA AND INTERLEUKIN-6

Transcobalamin (TCII) and haptocorrins (TCI and III), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-6 (IL,6) and parameters of disease activity were assessed in 20 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients without anaemia and 19 subjects with anaemia of chronic disease (ACD) in order to determine if there was a possible correlation between these parameters. TCII, TNF and IL,6 correlated positively with RA disease activity parameters, whereas their serum levels were higher in the ACD patients. TC levels were not correlated with cytokine levels. Vitamin B-12 serum levels were lower in ACD. We conclude that in RA, elevated serum TCII levels are possibly mediated by increased RA disease activity, but probably not by actions of TNF or IL.6. Increased TCII levels found in ACD may be explained by the higher degree of RA activity in these patients, and could also be viewed as a compensatory reaction to anaemia or reduced vitamin B-12 levels. However, these preliminary findings require further confirmation.