Sattar M A, Das K C
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Safat, Kuwait.
Med Lab Sci. 1991 Jan;48(1):36-42.
The unsaturated vitamin B12 (cobalamin) binding capacity (UB12BC), transcobalamin (TC) I, II and III were measured in plasma and synovial fluid of 55 patients (10 men and 45 women, 25-60 years of age) with rheumatoid arthritis. The vitamin B12 binding proteins in 55 clinically and haematologically normal subjects of similar age group and sex were also studied as controls. The mean plasma concentrations of UB12BC, TCI, II and III were all significantly raised in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as compared to the normal controls. The increase of all vitamin B12 binding proteins in these patients showed a positive correlation with the increase of total proteins and globulin concentrations, and a negative (inverse) correlation with the albumin concentrations in the plasma, suggesting that these biochemical changes may be systemic consequences of the inflammatory and immunological processes characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis. The UB12BC, TC I and TC III concentrations in the synovial fluid were significantly higher than the corresponding plasma concentrations of these vitamin B12 binding proteins in patients with RA. Vitamin B12 binding proteins in the synovial fluid in these patients were probably at least partly produced locally by inflammatory cells. The mean levels of plasma transcobalamins in patients with severe disease activity were significantly higher than in patients with median or least disease activity. Therefore these proteins may be further studied as possible additional markers of disease activity in patients with RA.
对55例类风湿性关节炎患者（10名男性和45名女性，年龄在25至60岁之间）的血浆和滑液进行了不饱和维生素B12（钴胺素）结合能力（UB12BC）、转钴胺素（TC）I、II和III的检测。作为对照，还研究了55名年龄和性别相似的临床及血液学正常受试者的维生素B12结合蛋白。与正常对照组相比，类风湿性关节炎（RA）患者血浆中UB12BC、TCI、II和III的平均浓度均显著升高。这些患者中所有维生素B12结合蛋白的增加与总蛋白和球蛋白浓度的增加呈正相关，与血浆中白蛋白浓度呈负（反向）相关，这表明这些生化变化可能是类风湿性关节炎炎症和免疫过程的全身性后果。RA患者滑液中UB12BC、TC I和TC III的浓度显著高于这些维生素B12结合蛋白在相应血浆中的浓度。这些患者滑液中的维生素B12结合蛋白可能至少部分是由炎症细胞在局部产生的。疾病活动严重的患者血浆转钴胺素的平均水平显著高于疾病活动中度或最低的患者。因此，这些蛋白可能作为RA患者疾病活动的潜在附加标志物有待进一步研究。
