[Serum hyaluronic acid in osteoarthritis]. / L'acide hyaluronique sérique dans l'arthrose.

ABSTRACT

In this prospective study, serum hyaluronate (SH) was assayed using a radiometric method (Pharmacia) in 73 osteoarthritis patients and 39 controls. All assays were performed between 8 h 00 and 9 h 00 a.m. because SH levels exhibit circadian variations. SH levels were significantly higher in patients with osteoarthritis than in controls (92 +/- 66 micrograms/l and 39 +/- 21 micrograms/l, respectively, p = 0.0001). Among 50 patients with osteoarthritis, including 29 with knee involvement and 21 with hip involvement, SH levels were not correlated with morning stiffness, duration of symptoms, Lequesne's algofunctional index, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, severity of roentgenographic changes in the affected knee or hip, disease extension, or severity. The lack of any relationship between changes in SH levels and Lequesne's is index values in 25 patients or between SH levels and joint space narrowing evaluated retrospectively in 16 patients, as well as the prompt return to high SH levels after arthroplasty and synovectomy in 14 patients with hip joint osteoarthritis, suggest that this potential marker is not useful for monitoring osteoarthritis in a single joint.