First Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA University Hospital, Stilp. Kiriakidi 1, 54637, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Rheumatol Int. 2011 Feb;31(2):263-7. doi: 10.1007/s00296-010-1557-4. Epub 2010 Jul 25.
Systemic sclerosis is a connective tissue disease, which may lead to elevated pulmonary arterial pressure due to pulmonary arterial hypertension and/or left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Uric acid (UA) has been shown to be elevated in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and heart failure. We aimed to investigate the potent relationship between serum UA and pulmonary pressure as well as functional capacity in patients with SSc. We studied 66 patients (mean age 57.7±12.1years, 63 women), presenting with SSc. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure assessed by echocardiography, lung function tests, six-minute walk test (6MWT) and serum UA levels were recorded in all patients. In 24 (36%) patients, the diagnosis of PH was established by echocardiography (systolic pulmonary artery pressure ≥40 mmHg). Patients with PH had higher UA serum levels compared to patients without PH (5.1±2.1 mg/dl vs. 4.2±0.9 mg/dl, p=0.04). Among patients with PH, UA values were inversely correlated with the SMWT distance (r=-0.51, p=0.01). Serum UA values increased in proportion to the functional capacity in PH patients with scleroderma. Further investigations in prospective studies will unfold in detail the pathophysiological significance of UA in SSc patients with PH and determine its role as a prognostic marker in the assessment and monitoring of the disease.
系统性硬化症是一种结缔组织疾病，由于肺动脉高压和/或左心室舒张功能障碍，可能导致肺动脉压升高。已经表明，在肺动脉高压 (PH) 和心力衰竭患者中尿酸 (UA) 升高。我们旨在研究血清 UA 与 SSc 患者的肺压和功能能力之间的潜在关系。我们研究了 66 名（平均年龄 57.7±12.1 岁，63 名女性）患有 SSc 的患者。所有患者均记录了超声心动图评估的收缩期肺动脉压、肺功能检查、6 分钟步行试验 (6MWT) 和血清 UA 水平。在 24 名（36%）患者中，通过超声心动图诊断为 PH（收缩期肺动脉压≥40mmHg）。与无 PH 的患者相比，PH 患者的 UA 血清水平更高（5.1±2.1mg/dl 比 4.2±0.9mg/dl，p=0.04）。在 PH 患者中，UA 值与 SMWT 距离呈负相关（r=-0.51，p=0.01）。血清 UA 值随着 PH 患者的功能能力的增加而增加。在未来的研究中，进一步的研究将详细阐明 UA 在患有 PH 的 SSc 患者中的病理生理意义，并确定其作为评估和监测疾病的预后标志物的作用。
