Evaluation of serum resistin levels in patients with ocular and non-ocular Behçet's disease.

BACKGROUND

Resistin, a recently identified adipocytokine, has been found to play an important role in inflammation and the processes of inflammation-related diseases. Serum resistin levels in patients with Behçet's disease (BD) have not yet been investigated. We aimed to evaluate the relation between resistin and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in Behçet patients with or without ocular involvement and in normal controls.

METHODS

Twenty-two patients with BD and 19 healthy control subjects were included in this study. While 14 patients had posterior segment involvement of the eye, the other 8 did not have ocular disease. Serum resistin and interleukin-6 (IL-6), levels were measured in all samples. Data from all groups were tested for statistical significance.

RESULTS

The mean resistin and IL-6 concentrations were significantly higher in patients with BD than the control subjects (p = 0.011 and p = 0.0001, respectively). There was a significant difference in resistin and IL-6 levels between the patients with non-ocular BD and controls (p = 0.013 and p = 0.0001, respectively), as well as resistin and IL-6 levels between the ocular BD group and the control group (p = 0.05 and p = 0.0001, respectively). However, there was no significant difference between patients with ocular versus non-ocular BD.

INTERPRETATION: Resistin levels were found to be raised in Behçet patients with or without ocular involvement compared with the control subjects.