Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and C-reactive Protein Serve As Biomarkers of Joint Health in Severe Haemophilia A: A Cross-Sectional Study From India.
- 1Haematology/Haematology oncology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, IND.
- 2Clinical Haematology, Medical College, Kolkata, Kolkata, IND.
- 3Clinical Haematology and Cellular Therapies, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, IND.
Abstract
Objectives In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), people living with haemophilia (PWH) remain on on-demand factor replacement therapy and present with haemophilic arthropathy. This two-arm cross-sectional study compared serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and C‑reactive protein (CRP) levels between patients with severe haemophilia A and healthy controls and explored their association with clinical indices of joint health. Materials and methods We measured serum VEGF and CRP in 50 male patients with severe haemophilia A and 50 age-matched healthy male controls. Joint status was assessed by the Haemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS), Functional Independence Score in Haemophilia (FISH), and annual bleed rate (ABR). Comparisons used nonparametric tests; diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves; and correlations were analysed with Spearman's rho. Results Median age of the patient cohort was 11.5 years (range 4-25 years). Mean VEGF (85.11 ± 9.01 pg/mL) and CRP (1032.58 ± 242.88 pg/mL) levels were significantly higher in PWH than in controls (VEGF 56.9 ± 17.1 pg/mL, CRP 140.26 ± 37.24 pg/mL; both p<0.001). ROC analysis showed fair discrimination between cases and controls for VEGF (area under the curve or AUC 0.792) and CRP (AUC 0.775); optimal cut offs were 68.85 pg/mL for VEGF and 210.03 pg/mL for CRP. VEGF and CRP correlated significantly with FISH and CRP correlated positively with ABR. Conclusion Serum VEGF and CRP are elevated in severe haemophilia A and show fair ability to distinguish PWH from healthy controls. Longitudinal studies can help establish the feasibility of these biomarkers in predictive models for joint bleeding.
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BibTeX
@article{bhattacharjee2026serum,
title = {{Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and C-reactive Protein Serve As Biomarkers of Joint Health in Severe Haemophilia A: A Cross-Sectional Study From India.}},
author = {Sukrita Bhattacharjee and Shouriyo Ghosh and Jyoti Shaw and Sudip Roy and Siddhartha S Ray and Maitreyee Bhattacharyya},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.7759/cureus.117081},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953485},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and C-reactive Protein Serve As Biomarkers of Joint Health in Severe Haemophilia A: A Cross-Sectional Study From India.
AU - Sukrita Bhattacharjee
AU - Shouriyo Ghosh
AU - Jyoti Shaw
AU - Sudip Roy
AU - Siddhartha S Ray
AU - Maitreyee Bhattacharyya
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
JO - Cureus
DO - 10.7759/cureus.117081
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953485
AB - Objectives In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), people living with haemophilia (PWH) remain on on-demand factor replacement therapy and present with haemophilic arthropathy. This two-arm cross-sectional study compared serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and C‑reactive protein (CRP) levels between patients with severe haemophilia A and healthy controls and explored their association with clinical indices of joint health. Materials and methods We measured serum VEGF and CRP in 50 male patients with severe haemophilia A and 50 age-matched healthy male controls. Joint status was assessed by the Haemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS), Functional Independence Score in Haemophilia (FISH), and annual bleed rate (ABR). Comparisons used nonparametric tests; diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves; and correlations were analysed with Spearman's rho. Results Median age of the patient cohort was 11.5 years (range 4-25 years). Mean VEGF (85.11 ± 9.01 pg/mL) and CRP (1032.58 ± 242.88 pg/mL) levels were significantly higher in PWH than in controls (VEGF 56.9 ± 17.1 pg/mL, CRP 140.26 ± 37.24 pg/mL; both p<0.001). ROC analysis showed fair discrimination between cases and controls for VEGF (area under the curve or AUC 0.792) and CRP (AUC 0.775); optimal cut offs were 68.85 pg/mL for VEGF and 210.03 pg/mL for CRP. VEGF and CRP correlated significantly with FISH and CRP correlated positively with ABR. Conclusion Serum VEGF and CRP are elevated in severe haemophilia A and show fair ability to distinguish PWH from healthy controls. Longitudinal studies can help establish the feasibility of these biomarkers in predictive models for joint bleeding.
SN - 2168-8184
ER -