title: Serum osteocalcin (bone Gla-protein) following corticosteroid therapy in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Comparison of the effect of prednisone and deflazacort.
abstract: In 28 postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis, serum osteocalcin (OC) concentration decreased from 5.2 +/- 1.9 ng/ml to 3.0 +/- 1.6 ng/ml after 6 months therapy with corticosteroids (p less than 0.005). No differences, however, were found in a control group of 13 patients treated for 6 months with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In those patients with serial OC measurements, changes in serum OC were already evident within the first month of therapy. This suggests that a suppressed osteoblast function may be detectable early during corticosteroid therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. Fifteen patients treated with prednisone (5-25 mg once daily, mean 12.33 mg/day) showed a more marked decrease in serum OC than 13 patients treated with equivalent doses of deflazacort (p less than 0.005). Prednisone therapy at doses higher than 10 mg/day resulted in a severe suppression of OC values in most cases. The effect of deflazacort was, however, mild in the majority of patients treated with doses of up to 30 mg/day.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Terapia Medica, Università di Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montecucco
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baldi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fortina
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tomassini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caporali
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Cherie-Ligniere
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fratino
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D015675:Osteocalcin; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011282:Pregnenediones / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D011282:Pregnenediones; D015675:Osteocalcin; D011239:Prednisolone; C021988:deflazacort