title: Urinary neopterin index as a measure of rheumatoid activity.
abstract: The urinary neopterin index (U-NEOPT-I), expressed as micro-moles of neopterin/moles of creatinine) of 67 patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis was significantly higher than that of sex- and age-matched persons or of 24 non-matched patients suffering from osteoarthrosis or arthralgia (2p less than 0.001). Furthermore, the patients with active disease had statistically significantly increased U-NEOPT-I when compared with patients with a clinically less active disease. In this study, the U-NEOPT-I value was the equal of CRP as a measure of rheumatoid activity. We suggest that neopterin might be involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine*; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000652:urine; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin; D010146:Pain; D011621:Pteridines / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D011621:Pteridines; D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin