Objectives: We previously reported that heating of the neck or elbows alleviated Raynaud's phenomenon in patients with systemic sclerosis and upregulated capillary extension factor angiopoietin-1 (Angpt-1) in the fingertips. Here, we investigated which cases responded better to the effect of heating of the neck or elbows.
Methods: The pre- to post-heating change in the visual analogue scale for Raynaud's phenomenon (ΔVAS) was examined for correlation with age, disease duration, autoantibodies, disease types, corticosteroid dose, capillaroscopic nailfold capillary damage, fingertip Angpt-1 concentrations at baseline, and increased rate of Angpt-1 concentration.
Results: The ΔVAS for elbow heating correlated positively with the baseline Angpt-1 concentration, whereas the opposite correlation was observed for neck heating. The other items were not significantly correlated with the ΔVAS; however, the ΔVAS for elbow heating tended to be larger in patients with advanced capillary damage, whereas the opposite trend was observed for neck heating.
Conclusions: Elbow and neck heating alleviated Raynaud's phenomenon to a similar extent, but their mechanism was different. Heating the elbows had a greater effect on patients with advanced capillary damage and lower fingertip Angpt-1 concentrations.
Keywords: Raynaud’s phenomenon; angiopoietin-1; capillary; heating; systemic sclerosis.
© Japan College of Rheumatology 2023. Published by Oxford University Press.