Background: This study was to investigate the value of 10 serum inflammatory cytokines for predicting clinical response to celecoxib in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.
Methods: Totally, 103 active AS patients who underwent celecoxib treatment for 12 weeks were enrolled. Then, pre-treatment serum TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17A, IL-21, IL-23, IL-32, ICAM-1, and VEGF were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Besides, the ASAS 20 response was assessed at week 2 (W2), week 6 (W6), and week 12 (W12). Based on the ASAS 20 response at W12, patients were divided into responders and non-responders.
Results: After celecoxib treatment, 53 (51.3%), 58 (56.3%), and 60 (58.3%) patients achieved ASAS 20 response at W2, W6, and W12, respectively. Furthermore, IL-1β (P = 0.019), IL-6 (P = 0.004), and IL-17A (P = 0.007) levels were higher, while TNF-α (P = 0.086), IL-8 (P = 0.143), IL-21 (P = 0.687), IL-23 (P = 0.329), IL-32 (P = 0.216), ICAM-1 (P = 0.119), and VEGF (P = 0.732) levels were similar in responders compared with non-responders. Subsequent multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that among these inflammatory cytokines, only IL-6 (P = 0.019) independently predicted higher ASAS 20 response to celecoxib at W12, and it had a fair value for predicting ASAS 20 response to celecoxib at W12 (area under the curve: 0.666, 95% confidence interval: 0.561-0.771) by receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis.
Conclusion: Serum IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17A serve as indicators for predicting clinical response to celecoxib in AS patients, which may assist with the optimization of personalized treatment.
Keywords: Ankylosing spondylitis; C-reactive protein; Celecoxib; Clinical response; Interleukin-6.