Krzysztof Zwierz

Activity of lysosomal exoglycosidases in serum and synovial fluid in patients with chronic Lyme and rheumatoid arthritis

Lysosomal exoglycosidases participate in the destruction of the articular cartilage by cleaving glycoside bonds in glycoproteins and proteoglycans. The aim of the study was to determine the activity of exoglycosidases: hexosaminidase, β-glucuronidase, β-galactosidase, α-mannosidase and α-fucosidase in serum and synovial fluid of patients with Lyme and rheumatoid arthritis. The study group consisted of 10 patients with chronic Lyme arthritis (age 18 – 74 y), 13 with rheumatoid arthritis (age 32 – 70 y) and 10 with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (age 8 – 17 y). The control group consisted of 9 healthy volunteers (age 24 – 62 y). The activity of the exoglycosidases was determined with the p-nitrophenyl derivatives of sugars as substrates. A significant increase of the activity of all the exoglycosidases in serum and in synovial fluid of the patients with different forms of arthritis was found. The ratio of synovial fluid/serum activity of exoglycosidases was above 2.0 in LA but not in JIA and RA patients. As the main source of exoglycosidases in the joint is the synovial membrane, this result supports the appropriateness of therapeutic synovectomy in chronic Lyme arthritis with knee effusion. The serum activity of hexosaminidase may be used in monitoring the course of Lyme arthritis and the efficiency of treatment.

Effect of smoking on activity of N-acetyl-β-hexosaminidase in serum and urine of renal cancer patients

OBJECTIVES To compare N-acetyl-beta-hexosaminidase (HEX) activity in the serum and urine of smokers as well as non-smokers with renal cancer, and healthy people. DESIGN AND METHODS To assess hexosaminidase activity the level of p-nitrophenol released from p-nitrophenol derivatives was measured. RESULTS The activity of enzyme was significantly higher in cancer group, with the highest activity in non-smokers. CONCLUSIONS Cigarette smoking can inhibit, by the influence on HEX activity, catabolism of oligosaccharide chains in cancer tissues.

Lysosomal Glycosidases in Degradation of Human Articular Cartilage

Joint diseases cause serious medical problems for several million people world-wide and therefore the World Health Organization has designated years 2000-2010 as the Decade of the Bone and Joint (Popko et al.2011). Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common, and increasingly prevalent, human joint disorder (Dieppe, 2000). It has been estimated that in 1990 12 % of Americans, nearly 21 million people had clinical symptoms of osteoarthritis (Lawrence et al., 1998). Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects about 0.3 to 1.5% of the world population(Chikanza et.al., 1998). Juvenile idiopatic arthritis (JIA) is one of the most common rheumatic diseases in children, which causes pain and functional disability. According to a 2008 study performed by the National Arthritis Data Workgroup, there were close to 3000,000 children in the U.S.A. with some form of juvenile arthritis (Giannini et al., 2010). Lyme arthritis (LA) caused by spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is increasing in prevalence disease involving the musculoskeletal system, particularly affecting knee joints (Pancewicz et. al.2009). RA and JIA are chronic autoimmune inflammatory diseases primarily affecting the synovial membrane, leading to joint damage and destruction. OA is the most common joint disorder and a major public health problem in western populations (Lawrence et al. 1998). Clinical and epidemiological studies on OA have recognized a series of etiologic factors including local factors (such as malformations or joint injuries) and systemic factors (such as overweight, race, gender, or metabolic diseases). OA is associated with a loss of proper balance between synthesis and degradation of the macromolecules that gives articular cartilage its biomechanical and functional properties. Concomitantly in OA, changes occur in the structure and metabolism of the synovium and subchondral bone of the joint.