6-ketoprostaglandin-f1-alpha and Joint-Diseases

Clinical and experimental evidence suggests that arachidonic acid metabolism through lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase pathways may play an important role in the pathogenesis of both inflammatory and degenerative joint diseases. The aim of the present paper was to measure the levels of different arachidonate metabolites in arthrosis or rheumatoid joint effusions.. We studied synovial fluids from 22 patients with arthrosis and 8 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The levels of TxB2, 6-keto-PGF1 alpha LTB4 and LTC4 were measured by radioimmunoassay.. The levels of the different arachidonate metabolites were higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis than in those with arthrosis and the differences were always statistically significant, except for TxB2 values. Furthermore, in patients with arthrosis the levels of such metabolites were not significantly correlated with one another, with the exception of LTB4 and LTC4 values, while in patients with rheumatoid arthritis these levels were directly and significantly correlated.. In inflammatory joint disease levels of arachidonate metabolites are higher and more directly correlated with one another than in degenerative joint disease. Our data may explain the better efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with arthrosis than in those with rheumatoid arthritis and the frequent necessity for steroidal treatment in this last condition.

Topics: 6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha; Arachidonic Acid; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Humans; Joint Diseases; Leukotriene B4; Leukotriene C4; Radioimmunoassay; Synovial Fluid; Thromboxane B2

The joint is a relatively rare localization for osteoid osteoma. The location of the tumor and the concomitant synovitis-explain the peculiarity of the clinical features, which makes differential diagnosis with inflammatory diseases of the joint difficult. The authors report the results of three cases of intra-articular osteoid osteoma in which it was possible to determine the levels of prostaglandin (PGE2) and prostacyclin (PGI2), which are synthesized by the tumoral tissue. The increased production of these substances, which can reach up to 70 times their production in normal tissue, explain both the character of the pain and the origin of the synovitis which is so commonly found in this kind of tumor. The results of this study confirm the ability of the neoplastic tissue to produce high quantities of mediators of inflammation and enable the authors to formulate a theory as to the pathogenesis of the concomitant reactive synovitis observed in cases of intra-articular osteoid osteoma.

Topics: 6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha; Bone and Bones; Dinoprostone; Epoprostenol; Humans; Joint Diseases; Osteoma, Osteoid; Synovitis