Oral alendronate induces progressive increases in bone mass of the spine, hip, and total body over 3 years in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

To determine the effects of long-term daily oral alendronate sodium (ALN) on bone mass in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, 19 centers enrolled 516 postmenopausal women aged 45-80 years with spine bone mineral density (BMD) at least 2.5 SD below the mean for young premenopausal women in a 3-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Subjects were randomly allocated to one of four treatment groups: placebo; alendronate, 5 or 10 mg/day for 3 years; or alendronate, 20 mg/day for 2 years followed by 5 mg/day for the 3rd year.

Interleukin-6 in synovial fluid and serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory arthritides.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6), also called 26-kd protein, hybridoma plasmacytoma growth factor, beta 2-interferon, or B cell stimulatory factor 2, is a recently described human cytokine with multiple growth and differentiation activities. Using a very sensitive bioassay based on the growth factor activity of this protein for B cell hybridomas, we found that IL-6 activity was significantly elevated in synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or other inflammatory arthritides, as compared with that in a group of patients with osteoarthritis. Moreover, IL-6 was detected in about one-third of the serum samples from patients with RA.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy related to end stage cholestatic cirrhosis: reversal after liver transplantation.

A case is reported of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy with recovery after a liver graft in a young man with end stage cholestatic cirrhosis related to non-Wilsonian copper overload. To our knowledge this is the first case in the literature illustrating the curative role of liver grafting on hypertrophic osteoarthropathy associated with chronic cholestatic liver disease.

Articular chondrocalcinosis in seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Comparison with a control group.

The prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis was studied in a group of 100 patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Articular chondrocalcinosis was observed less frequently (3%) than in a control group (19%) of 221 age and sex matched patients with low back pain or extraarticular rheumatism. This difference is statistically significant (p less than 0.

The effect of low dosage glucocorticoids on bone mass in rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study using single photon absorptiometry.

The cross-sectional study of patients with RA receiving LDGC, compared with those on NSAID alone (or patients with AS) showed that LDGC significantly affects bone mass at midshaft and even more so at the distal radius. The loss of bone seems to be brisk but continuous on the long run, at least at the distal scanning site, and thus increases the C/T ratio, especially in aged men. The loss of bone mass in the LDGC group correlates with the duration of the disease as well as with carpal destruction (especially at mid shaft radius), with both parameters being correlated with one another.