Angiogenesis may be involved in the pathogenesis of Behçet’s disease (BD). Some angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and endothelin-1 are significantly associated with BD. Here, we investigate whether Angiopoietin contributes to disease activity and clinical manifestations of BD.

We recruited 59 consecutive patients with BD and sex- and age-matched 65 healthy control subjects for this study. We reviewed data regarding clinical features, erythrocyte sediment rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) at the time of enrollment. Serum angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student t test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis.

Levels of serum angiopoietin-1 are significantly increased in BD patients compared to controls (284.5±101.2ng/ml of BD vs 237.1±76.4ng/ml of controls, p=0.012). However, serum angiopoietin-2 levels are similar in both groups (974.2±679.3pg/ml of BD vs 858.3±535.3pg/ml of controls, p=0.562). Serum angiopoietin-1 expression is significantly elevated in patients with skin lesions (p=0.025) and positively correlated with disease duration (r=0.320, p=0.015). ESR levels are closely associated with serum angiopoietin-2 (r=0.306, p=0.018).

Angiopoiein-1 expression is enhanced in BD patients compared to controls. This preliminary study identifies that angiopoietin-1 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of BD.