Relationship between spine osteoarthritis, bone mineral density and bone turn over markers in post menopausal women.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have observed an inverse relationship between osteoporosis and spinal osteoarthritis, the latter being considered as possibly delaying the development of osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine the association between individual radiographic features of spine degeneration, bone mineral density (BMD) and bone-turn over markers. METHODS: It was a cross sectional study of 277 post menopausal women. BMD of all patients was assessed at the spine and hip using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Lateral spinal radiographs were evaluated for features of disc degeneration. Each vertebral level from L1/2 to L4/5 was assessed for the presence and severity of osteophytes and disc space narrowing (DSN). For Bone turn-over markers, we assessed serum osteocalcin and C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX). Linear regressions and partial correlation were used respectively to determine the association between each of disc degeneration features, BMD, and both CTX and osteocalcin. RESULTS: Mean age of patients was 58.7 +/- 7.7 years. Eighty four patients (31.2%) were osteoporotic and 88.44% had spine osteoarthritis. At all measured sites, there was an increase in BMD with increasing severity of disc narrowing while there was no association between severity of osteophytes and BMD. After adjustment for age and BMI, there was a significant negative correlation between CTX and DSN. However, no significant correlation was found between CTX and osteophytes and between osteocalcin and both osteophytes or DSN. CONCLUSION: In post menopausal women the severity of disc narrowing, but not osteophytes, is associated with a generalized increase in BMD and a decreased rate of bone resorption. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that osteoarthritis, through DSN, has a protective effect against bone loss, mediated by a lower rate of bone resorption. However, spine BMD is not a relevant surrogate marker for the assessment of osteoporosis in the spine in patients with osteoarthritis and debate as to the relationship between OA and OP is still open because of the contradictory data in the literature.

Factors influencing quality of life in Moroccan postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fracture assessed by ECOS 16 questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate factors influencing quality of life (QOL) in Moroccan postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fracture assessed by the Arabic version of ECOS 16 questionnaire. METHODS: 357 postmenopausal women were included in this study. The participants underwent bone mineral density (BMD) measurements by DXA of the lumbar spine and the total hip as well as X-ray examination of the thoraco-lumbar spine to identify subclinical vertebral fractures. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire on clinical and sociodemographic parameters, and osteoporosis risk factors. The Arabic version of the ECOS16 (Assessment of health related quality of life in osteoporosis questionnaire) was used to assess quality of life. RESULTS: The mean age was 58 +/- 7.8 years, and the mean BMI was 28.3 +/- 4.8 kg/m2. One hundred and eight women (30.1%) were osteoporotic and 46.7% had vertebral fractures. Most were categorized as Grade1 (75%). Three independent factors were associated with a poor quality of life: low educational level (p = 0,01), vertebral fracture (p = 0,03), and history of peripheral fracture (p = 0,006). Worse QOL was observed in the group with vertebral fracture in all domains except "pain": Physical functioning (p = 0,002); Fear of illness (p = 0,001); and Psychosocial functioning (p = 0,007). The number of fractures was a determinant of a low QOL, as indicated by an increased score in physical functioning (p = 0,01), fear of illness (p = 0,007), and total score (p = 0,01) after adjusting on age and educational level. Patients with higher Genant score had low QOL in these two domains too (p = 0,002; p = 0,001 respectively), and in the total score (p = 0,01) after adjusting on age and educational level. CONCLUSION: Our current data showed that the quality of life assessed by the Arabic version of the ECOS 16 questionnaire is decreased in post menopausal women with prevalent vertebral fractures, with the increasing number and the severity of vertebral fractures.

The effect of past use of oral contraceptive on bone mineral density, bone biochemical markers and muscle strength in healthy pre and post menopausal women.

BACKGROUND: during adulthood, most studies have reported that oral contraceptive (OC) pills had neutral, or possibly beneficial effect on bone health. We proposed this study of pre and post menopausal women assessing BMD, bone biochemical markers and physical performance among OC past users and comparable women who have never use Ocs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study comparing the bone density, bone biochemical markers (osteocalcin, CTX) and three measures to assess physical performance: timed get-up-and-go test "TGUG", five-times-sit-to-stand test "5 TSTS" and 8-feet speed walk "8 FSW" of users and never users OC. We were recruited 210 women who used OC for at least 2 years with that of 200 nonusers was carried out in pre and postmenopausal women (24-86 years). RESULTS: when analysing the whole population, BMD and biochemical markers values were similar for Ocs past users and control subjects. However when analysing the subgroup of premenopausal women, there was a statistically significant difference between users and never-users in osteocalcin (15,5 +/- 7 ng/ml vs 21,6 +/- 9 ng/ml; p = 0,003) and CTX (0,30 +/- 0,1 ng/ml vs 0,41 +/- 0,2 ng/ml; p = 0,025). This difference persisted after adjustment for age, BMI, age at menarche and number of pregnancies. In contrast, in post menopausal women, there was no difference in bone biochemical markers between OC users and the control. On the other hand OC past users had a significant greater performance than did the never users group. And when analysing the physical performance tests by quartile OC duration we found a significant negative association between the three tests and the use of OC more than 10 years. CONCLUSION: the funding show no evidence of a significant difference in BMD between Ocs users and never user control groups, a decrease in bone turn over in OC pre menopausal users and a greater physical performances in patients who used OC up than 10 years.

Two distinct patterns of ankylosing spondylitis in Moroccan patients.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is characterised by a geographic differences in terms of prevalence and clinical expression of the disease. The aim of our study was to describe the actual features of AS in Morocco and we wanted to examine a large population of patients for evidence of phenotypic clustering that could suggest the presence of distinct clinical entities. We investigated 117 patients with a diagnosis of primary AS according to the modified New York criteria. All patients were evaluated according to a standardised data collection form, including demographic variables and disease history with clinical and radiological features. To analyse our data and try to individualise clinical subsets, we applied a two-step cluster analysis using log-likelihood distance measures. Patient's mean age at onset was 25.51 +/- 10.8 year. The mean BASDAI and BASFI score was 33.5 +/- 20.3 and 38.9 +/- 27.5, respectively. Radiographic damage was present in 99.1% of the subjects and radiographic hip involvement in 47.3%. Only 52.6% of patients had been treated with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs. Cluster analysis detected two distinct populations within the data set. Statistically significant differences were found between the two groups particularly concerning activity of the disease, age at onset and the hygienic conditions. Our study revealed that the Moroccan AS was active and severe and suggested that the age at onset and the precarious hygienic level has the greatest capacity to predict activity and severity of the disease.

The relationship between physical performance measures, bone mineral density, falls, and the risk of peripheral fracture: a cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several factors, in addition to low bone mineral density (BMD), have been identified as risks for fractures, including reduced levels of physical activity, poor balance and low physical performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between physical performance measures, BMD, falls, and the risk of peripheral fracture in a population sample of Moroccan women. METHODS: 484 healthy women were included. Three measures were used to assess physical performance: timed get-up-and-go test 'TGUGT', five-times-sit-to-stand test '5 TSTS' and 8-feet timed walk '8 FTW'. The association between physical performance measures and BMD, peripheral fracture and falls was performed by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The mean age was 55.1 years. Higher 'TGUGT', '5 TSTS', '8 FTW' test scores were associated with lower BMD measured at different sites (p range from < 0.001 to 0.005). The relationship between the three tests and BMD in all measured sites remained significant after multiple linear regression (p range from <0.001 to 0.026). In the group of post-menopausal patients, the scores of 'TGUGT' and '8 FTW' were significantly higher in fractured patients compared with patients without. After logistic regression, a score of 'TGUGT' > 14.2 sec, a score of '5 TSTS' > 12.9 sec and a score of '8 FTW' > 4.6 sec respectively, increased the probability of anterior peripheral fracture by 2.7, 2.2 and 2.3 (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.2-6.4, OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1-5.2; and OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.1-5.1). There was a significant positive correlation between the number of fall/year and the 3 tests. This correlation persisted after poisson regression. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that low physical performance is associated with low BMD, and a high risk of history of falls and fractures.

Long-term effects of therapeutic education for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to assess the effects of an educational program on the course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after 3 years. METHODS: From December 2002 to December 2003, 39 RA patients participated in a 3-day education program delivered to groups of four or five patients. Effects of the program were evaluated after 3 years in 33 patients, comparatively to baseline, based on the following variables: knowledge of RA (self-questionnaire), disease activity (DAS 28), functional impairment (health assessment questionnaire [HAQ]) and quality of life (arthritis impact measurement scale 2 [AIMS2], short-form). We also compared patient knowledge in the educational program participants and in 38 controls with RA. Direct questions were used to evaluate the program after 3 years. RESULTS: Patient knowledge 3 years after the education program was significantly improved compared to baseline (P<0.0001) and was significantly better than in the controls (P<0.0001). Disease activity was significantly lower in the education group after 3 years than at baseline (DAS28, 3.1 vs. 3.8, P<0.005). Neither the HAQ nor the AIMS2 scores changed significantly after 3 years compared to baseline. The replies to the direct questions indicated a very high level of overall satisfaction with the educational program. CONCLUSION: An educational program tailored to patient needs can produce lasting improvements in knowledge of the disease and may help to control the activity of RA. These results warrant the development of education programs for patients with chronic inflammatory joint disease.

Relationship between historical height loss and vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between historical height loss (HHL) and prevalent vertebral fractures (VF) in postmenopausal Moroccan women and to estimate its accuracy as a clinical test for detecting VF. Two hundred eighty-eight postmenopausal women were studied. All subjects had bone density measurements and spinal radiographs. Vertebral bodies (T4-L4) were graded using the semi-quantitative method of Genant. HHL was calculated as the difference between a patient's tallest recalled height and the current measured height. The mean age was 58.4 +/- 7.8 years. Thirty-one percent of patients were osteoporotic, and 46.5% had VF. Patients with VF had lost more height than those without VF (median, 2.0 cm (0.26-3.3) vs 0.96 cm (0.33-2.4), p < 0.05). In univariate analysis, HHL was positively correlated to both number and grade of prevalent VF (p < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the ability of HHL to detect VF was 0.60 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52, 0.69). Our HHL threshold for detecting VF was >1.5 cm, its sensitivity was 58%, and its specificity was 61%. The positive predictive value was 53%, and the negative predictive value was 65%. With HHL >1.5 cm, positive likelihood ratio was 1.49 with 95% CI, 1.07, 2.06. Our results demonstrate significant positive associations between HHL, VF, number of VF, and grade of VF. However, this relationship is not clinically pertinent. Consequently, HHL cannot be used as a reliable clinical test for detecting VF in postmenopausal Moroccan women.

Breast cancer in a male with ankylosing spondylitis treated with TNFalpha antagonists.

A 72-year-old male with a 4-year history of TNFalpha antagonist therapy (infliximab and etanercept) for ankylosing spondylitis was diagnosed with breast cancer. He had a family history of breast cancer. The low incidence and considerable severity of breast cancer in males, genetic risk factors, and potential role for TNFalpha antagonist therapy are discussed.