title: Urinary neopterin excretion in pulmonary sarcoidosis: correlation to clinical course of the disease.
abstract: Urinary neopterin levels were determined by high pressure liquid chromatography in 36 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. Values were above normal range in 69.4% of all patients. Neopterin excretion was significantly higher in radiologic types II/III than in type I disease (p = 0.0265, Mann-Whitney U-test). Urinary neopterin showed a weak, but significant inverse correlation to disease duration (r = -0.36; p = 0.034, Spearman's rank correlation). No significant correlation could be found between neopterin and the presence of pulmonary or extrapulmonary symptoms, vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in the first second, steroid treatment, and serum angiotensin converting enzyme. Follow-up studies revealed that worsening or improvement of chest X-ray findings was invariably accompanied by rising or decreasing neopterin excretion, respectively. Patients with normal neopterin at initial evaluation had a higher tendency towards spontaneous healing, and none of them deteriorated during the follow-up period. We conclude that urinary neopterin excretion reflects one aspect of alveolitic "activity" in pulmonary sarcoidosis and that normal values probably indicate a favorable prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prior
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hausen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Judmaier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reibnegger
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wachter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin; D011379:Prognosis; D011859:Radiography; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000652:urine; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin