Examination of synovial fluid and serum hyaluronidase activity as a joint marker in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients (by zymography).
OBJECTIVE
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an important joint marker and the substrate for hyaluronidase (HAase). Synovial fluid (SF) and serum HAase were measured to investigate the potential use of HAase as a joint marker in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) patients.


METHODS
The subjects were 39 patients with RA and 42 patients with OA. HAase activity was measured by zymography and its relation with various parameters examined statistically.


RESULTS
In RA SF a positive correlation (r = 0.458, p = 0.0186) was found between SF HAase activity and the concentration of serum C reactive protein. A positive correlation (r = 0.45, p = 0.024) was also found between SF HAase activity and platelet count in the RA group. Serum HAase activity in the RA group was significantly higher than in the OA group (p < 0.0001) and normal controls (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that SF HAase activity could be used as a marker of synovial inflammation.
Nagaya
H
H
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
Ymagata
T
T
Ymagata
S
S
Iyoda
K
K
Ito
H
H
Hasegawa
Y
Y
Iwata
H
H
D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006801:Humans; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D007596:Joints / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D010976:Platelet Count; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000201:enzymology*
D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase