title: Methotrexate concentrations in synovial membrane and trabecular and cortical bone in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine methotrexate (MTX) concentrations in the synovial membrane (SM) and cortical and trabecular bone of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten RA patients (9 women, 1 man; mean +/- SD age 49.2 +/- 10.6, mean disease duration 13.2 +/- 9.9 years) undergoing surgical procedures for rheumatoid articular lesions participated in this study. Mean +/- SD MTX treatment duration was 26.4 +/- 21.3 months. The day preceding surgery, 10 mg of MTX was administered intramuscularly. During surgery, a mean +/- SD of 19.7 +/- 2.6 hours after MTX administration, SM, bone fragments, and blood were collected simultaneously. MTX was assayed by fluorescence polarization immunoassay in plasma and tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean +/- SD plasma concentration was 0.0252 +/- 0.01 nmoles/ml at the time of tissue sampling. The mean MTX concentration in SM was 0.285 +/- 0.159 nmoles/gm. The mean MTX concentrations in trabecular and cortical bone were 0.292 +/- 0.164 and 0.286 +/- 0.126 nmoles/gm, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After intramuscular administration, high MTX concentrations are found in SM and cortical and trabecular bone of RA patients.
authors.affiliation: CHU Gui-de-Chauliac, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bologna
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Edno
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anaya
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Canovas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vanden Berghe
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jorgensen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galtier
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Combe
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bressolle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sany
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008727:Methotrexate