Serum Calcium and Serum Alkaline Phosphatase Levels and their Correlations with Disease Activity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease, characterized by chronic synovial inflammation
leading to joint destruction and bone erosion. Metabolic changes have been studied in rheumatoid arthritis,
with several studies reported decrease in serum calcium, and increase in serum alkaline phosphatase in
rheumatoid arthritis patients in comparison to healthy individuals. This study has been undertaken to
evaluate serum calcium and serum alkaline phosphatase levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and
their correlation with disease activity. A total of 100 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were enrolled in the
study and compared with 50 healthy controls (46 female: 4 male) matched for age and sex. No significant
differences have been noticed in mean values of serum calcium, corrected calcium, and serum alkaline
phosphatase in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy controls. The mean values of serum calcium,
corrected calcium and serum alkaline phosphatase levels were slightly higher with moderate and high disease
activity in comparison to low disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but the differences did
not reach the statistical significance.