Abstract:
Systemic sclerosis (SS) is a systemic disease with heterogeneous clinical manifestations of the
skin and internal organs. It is believed that the triggering mechanism of its development is initial
vascular damage, which leads to inflammatory reactions and the development of the accumulation
of collagen and other components of the extracellular matrix. It goes without saying what a disease
treatment is. Diagnosis of SS is carried out by clinical observation and using methods such as the
Rodnan skin counter (mRSS), durometry, cutometry, and ultrasound determination of skin
thickness. These methods are quite of thickness of intima complex (TIC) consuming and
subjective. In addition, these methods do not provide information about the activity of the fibrotic process. These disadvantages of the listed methods can be compensated for by studying biomarkers that reflect the activity of inflammatory and fibrotic processes, but can be used to assess the prognosis and effectiveness of treatment. The aim of the review focuses on cardiac and fibrotic biomarkers of patients with scleroderma. These include growth factors, cytokines and
proteases, their inhibitors, as well as proteins of the extracellular matrix, especially collagens,
adapted to skin biopsies and in serum samples from patients with SS. Summarized information on
non-invasive physical and laboratory studies is proposed, which provides a better understanding of
cardiovascular disease and fibrotic activity, can be effectively used to assess the potential
therapeutic response and help in choosing the opTICal treatment options for SS.
