Serum Cytokine Profiling in Rheumatic Diseases

In cohorts 1 and 2, serum cytokine (IFN-γ, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-17A, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23) concentrations were measured. Similarly, these concentrations were also measured in the healthy control (HC) group, matched for age and sex. The concentrations of cytokines at the initiation of bDMARD therapy were measured after a 1-year observation period in all patients in both cohorts. The MESO SCALE DISCOVERY S-PLEX Human IL-17A kit (#K15067L-1, Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC, Rockville, MD, USA) was used to measure IL-17A (fg/ml), and the U-PLEX Biomarker Group 1 (#K151C3S-1, Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC, Rockville, MD, USA) was used to measure IFN-γ (pg/ml), IL-6 (pg/ml), TNF-α (pg/ml), IL-21 (pg/ml), IL-22 (pg/ml), and IL-23 (pg/ml) [10 (link)].