Examination of synovial fluid and serum hyaluronidase activity as a joint marker in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients (by zymography)

Abstract

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).
CONCLUSION—The results suggest that SF HAase activity could be used as a marker of synovial inflammation.

 Keywords: hyaluronidase; zymography; rheumatoid arthritis

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Figure 1  .

(A) The relation between SF HAase activity and CRP in RA patients was positively correlated (r=0.458, p=0.0186). (B) The relation between SF HAase activity and platelet count in RA patients was also positively correlated (r=0.45, p=0.024). (C) A standard curve for SF HAase activity in OA patients. Each square shows the average HAase activity in the same three samples, and the bar shows the standard error. The HAase bands were scanned with an image analyser and HAase activity was expressed numerically as a volume. HAase activity (10 000) corresponds to the activity of 2.7 µunits of hyaluronidase SD from streptococcus dysgalactiae at pH 4.0 (optimum pH 5.8-6.6).

Figure 2  .

Comparison of the serum HAase activity in the RA group, OA group, and normal controls. Serum HAase activity in the RA group was significantly higher than in both the OA group and the controls, but there was no significant difference between the OA group and the controls. (* p<0.0001, † p<0.0001, ‡ p=0.62).