[Osteocalcin--a marker of bone metabolism in rheumatoid arthritis patients].

Blood serum concentration of osteocalcin was studied in 53 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Osteocalcin (noncollagenous protein of bony tissue) is a marker of bony tissue formation known to be of high informative value. There were no significant differences in values for osteocalcin concentration between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy people. Reduction of osteocalcin content and, correspondingly, of process of bony tissue formation was observed in rapidly progressing course of rheumatoid arthritis and in stage IV arthritis. Rises in osteocalcin concentration were recordable in those women in there postmenopause. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis were found out to experience adequate formation of bony tissue in spite of the osteopenia syndrome progression. Disordered structural and functional state of the bony tissue processes of remodelling may be explained by bony tissue remodeling processes dissociation.