To determine the clinical utility of serum levels of
chemokines and
cytokines for the evaluation of disease activity in patients with
systemic sclerosis (SSc), concentrations of four
chemokines (
interferon γ-inducible
protein-10 [IP-10, CXCL10], monokine induced by
interferon γ [MIG/CXCL9],
monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [MCP-1/CCL2],
interleukin 8 [IL-8/CXCL8]) and six
cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10,
tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α,
interferon [IFN]- γ) were measured using cytometric beads array kits in serum samples from 31 Japanese patients with SSc and 20 normal controls. Clinical and laboratory data and serum
chemokine and
cytokine levels were assessed for each patient at their first visit and each subsequent year for 3 years. Among these
chemokines and
cytokines, serum levels of IP-10, MIG and MCP-1 were significantly elevated in SSc patients compared with normal controls at their first visit. Serum MCP-1 levels declined year and year, along with improvement for skin
sclerosis. The variations of MCP-1, but not IP-10 and MIG, were significantly associated with the variations of skin thickness score and vital capacity during 3 years. These results suggest that MCP-1 is a serological
indicator of the activity of skin and lung involvement in patients with SSc. However, a longer-term prospective study in a larger population will be needed to confirm its clinical utility as predictors of outcomes.