Elevated parathyroid hormone 44-68 in idiopathic calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease. Role of menopause and iron metabolism?

Objective: To examine whether idiopathic calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal deposition disease (CDD) is related to altered parathyroid hormone (PTH) metabolism.

Methods: Forty-two patients with idiopathic CPPD CDD were compared with 67 controls, 33 of whom were matched for age and sex.

Results: Serum PTH 44-68 concentrations were elevated in 29% of patients and were significantly higher in the patients than in their sex- and age-matched controls (Z = -4.

[Iron overload and arthropathy].

Arthropathy is a major and distinctive manifestation of hemochromatosis, resembling degenerative joint disease with involvement of unusual articular sites, almost identical to the arthropathy in calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals deposition disease (chondrocalcinosis), associated with osteoporosis. Hemochromatosis is the clinical condition of iron overload; it can be genetic or secondary. It is important to know how to diagnose early genetic hemochromatosis since it is a frequent, life-threatening and treatable condition.

Bone mineral density in men with genetic hemochromatosis and HFE gene mutation.

Genetic hemochromatosis (GH) is an iron overload disorder mainly due to the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene. The possibility of bone involvement was only recently recognized. The aims of this study were to assess bone mineral density (BMD) and bone remodeling in men with GH, and to examine the influence of iron overload.

Sigma ESR: an erythrocyte sedimentation rate adjusted for the hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration.

The aim of the study was to simplify the first Sigma erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) method (manual hematocrit adjustment to 0.35, sum of 4 sedimentation levels) and to confirm its clinical relevance. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate of undiluted blood samples from 576 patients was measured simultaneously with and without manual hematocrit adjustment to 0.

Positive association of the HLA DMB1*0101-0101 genotype with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: HLA DM is a non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecule that has been shown to facilitate peptide loading with classical class II molecules.

Methods: In this study, we analysed the polymorphism in exon 3 of HLA DMA and DMB genes by a polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe method in 163 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 146 ethnically matched controls. The HLA-DRB1 genotype was also analysed by a reverse-dot blot method.