DETECTABLE LEVELS OF PYRIDINOLINE ARE PRESENT IN SYNOVIAL-FLUID FROM VARIOUS PATIENTS WITH KNEE EFFUSION - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS

There is a major interest for using biochemical markers of bone metabo lism as a non-invasive tool for diagnostic purposes in the field of bo ne and joint diseases. Based upon the fact that the pyridinium crossli nks of collagen are markers of bone and cartilage degradation, this st udy was designed to assess the presence of pyridinoline in synovial fl uid samples originating from various arthritic and non-arthritic knee joints. Using a sample pooling method, significant levels of pyridinol ine could be measured in synovial fluid by high performance liquid chr omatography. Pyridinoline levels ranged from 19.3 +/- 5.8 pmol mL(-1) (mean +/- SD) in osteoarthritic knee joints up to 32.4 +/- 14.6 pmol m L(-1) in rheumatoid arthritis joints. Pyridinoline levels in synovial fluid were not significantly correlated to disease duration and synovi al fluid cell count, but were correlated to erythrocyte sedimentation rate in osteoarthritic patients (r = 0.99, P = 0.002). This study demo nstrates that synovial fluid originating from knee effusion contains s ignificant levels of pyridinoline which can be quantified by high perf ormance liquid chromatography and could, therefore, be a tool to inves tigate the metabolism of a single joint.