Abstract
Material and methods: Twenty nine patients with SSc, 10 with diffuse form, 18 with limited form and one with overlapping systemic lupus erythematosus were examined. Twelve patients displayed normal systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAPsyst) ≤30 mm Hg and 17 increased PAPsyst >30 mm Hg. Eight patients had isolated PH without interstitial lung disease (ILD) and nine had PH and ILD (secondary PH). PAPsyst was measured non-invasively by Doppler cardiography. CGRP was determined by radioimmunoassay.
Results: Patients with PH had higher p-CGRP than patients with normal pressure. A positive relation was found between p-CGRP and PAPsyst and between p-CGRP and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), particularly in patients with isolated PH.
Conclusion: In patients with SSc p-CGRP correlates with pulmonary pressure and with ESR. Whether CGRP reflects disease activity or is released secondary to pulmonary vasoconstriction needs to be investigated further.
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Figure 1 .
Relation between plasma concentration of calcitonin gene related peptide (p-CGRP) and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAPsyst) in 29 patients with SSc, 16 patients without ILD (A) and 13 patients with ILD (B). Mean ±3SD for healthy controls is marked with dotted lines.
Figure 2 .
Relation between plasma concentration of calcitonin gene related peptide (p-CGRP) and ESR (mm/1st h) in 24 patients with SSc, 14 patients without ILD (A) and 10 patients with ILD (B).