title: Urinary glycosaminoglycan excretion in rheumatic diseases.
abstract: We used Alcian Blue (AB) and dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) methods to measure glycosaminoglycan (GAG) excretion in the first morning urine specimens of patients with osteoarthritis (OA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in different stages of disease. By the AB method, urinary GAG excretion in patients with RA was not different from healthy control subjects. However, the DMB method showed significant differences (in milligrams of GAG per gram of creatinine) for OA (median 25.4, range 14.3-44.0, P less than 0.01, n = 23) and RA patients (median 33.0; range 10.0-147.6; P less than 0.001, n = 63) in comparison with unaffected individuals (median 20.2; range 8.9-41.4, n = 38). We noted a significant difference in urinary GAG excretion between RA and OA patients (P less than 0.01) and between RA and AS (P less than 0.01) patients. The DMB method was further investigated by clinical decision analysis. The DMB method is simple and rapid and may be useful in diagnosing RA by distinguishing between RA and OA or AS.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Rheumatic Diseases, Piestany, Czechoslovakia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kéry
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orlovská
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stancíková
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Risko
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zlnay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000423:Alcian Blue; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000652:urine; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000652:urine; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000652:urine*; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D000423:Alcian Blue; D008751:Methylene Blue; C016401:1,9-dimethylmethylene blue