Upregulated baseline plasma CCL19 and CCR7 cell-surface expression on monocytes in early rheumatoid arthritis normalized during treatment and CCL19 correlated with radiographic progression

Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure, in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, the concentration of CC-chemokine ligand 19 (CCL19) in plasma and the cell-surface expression of CC-chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) on circulating monocytes and CD4+ T lymphocytes and to analyse correlations with disease activity and 5-year radiographic progression.Method: In disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD)-naive RA patients (disease duration < 6 months), we measured plasma CCL19 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (n = 160) and CCR7 cell-surface expression on monocytes and CD4+ T lymphocytes by flow cytometry (n = 40) at baseline and after 1 year of treatment with methotrexate (MTX) or methotrexate+cyclosporin A (MTX/CyA). Radiographic progression was scored by the van der Heijde-modified Total Sharp Score (TSS) from 0 to 5 years.Results: Increased baseline CCL19 (median 85 pg/mL, range 31–1008 pg/mL, p = 0.01) decreased after 1 year (median 31 pg/mL, range 31–1030 pg/mL, p < 0.001) and 5 yea...