Elevated levels of hyaluronic acid in the sera of women with fibromyalgia.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate serum levels of hyaluronic acid (HA) in patients with fibromyalgia (FM).


METHODS
HA serum levels were evaluated by a radiometric assay in 42 women with FM (ACR criteria), 27 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 36 healthy female controls matched for age.


RESULTS
HA serum levels (mean microg/l +/- SEM) were 41 +/- 8.7 in healthy controls; 113 +/- 15.9 in RA: and 420 +/- 26 in FM.


CONCLUSIONS
HA serum levels in women with FM were significantly elevated compared to healthy controls and patients with RA. This observation suggests that FM is associated with a biochemical abnormality and that serum HA could be a laboratory marker for its diagnosis.
Yaron
I
I
Department of Rheumatology, Souraski Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine, Israel.
Buskila
D
D
Shirazi
I
I
Neumann
L
L
Elkayam
O
O
Paran
D
D
Yaron
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D015415:Biomarkers; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid