Osteoporosis screening tools in Iranian postmenopausal women

Osteoporosis is a major health problem, but testing low bone mineral density is not practical for screening all postmenopausal women. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the clinical tools to help clinicians to identify the Iranian women at an increased risk for Osteoporosis. The popular Osteoporosis screening tools were evaluated in 341 postmenopausal women without secondary cause for Osteoporosis, using data from a bone densitometry centre, and compared the results with their bone mineral density. National Osteoporosis Foundation recommendations had only a sensitivity of 48% for screening patients with low bone mass but the Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Instrument and the Simple Calculated Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Estimation with a sensitivity of 70.9% and 87.2%, respectively, showed better results in respect to the screening for Osteoporosis of postmenopausal women. The efficiency of these Osteoporosis screening tools in our Iranian patients was relatively similar to that of other populations, and these screening tools accurately identify the vast majority of postmenopausal women likely to have low bone mineral density

[ relationship between triglyceride level - HDL level - tumor necrosis alpha factor and its soluble receptors with lupus erythematosus activity]

Systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE] is a disease with life-threatening complications. Since evidence indicates that measurement of triglyceride [TG] and HDL levels and tumor necrosis alpha factor [TNF- alpha] and its types I and II soluble receptors plays a major role in evaluation of lupus activity, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the above mentioned factors and lupus activity in Tehran in 2005. In this cross-sectional study fasting blood samples were obtained from 86 SLE patients who had been entered into the study through convenient sampling and the disease activity was calculated using the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index [SLEDAI]. Scores >/= 6 were considered as active lupus and <6 as dormant lupus. Serum levels of TNF- alpha, sTNFR[1] and sTNFR[2] were measured through ELISA [Bender Medsystem] and blood TG and HDL through routine biochemical tests within 12 hours overnight fasting. The results were analysed by t-test, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation tests. 46 people [53.5%] suffered from dormant disease and 40 people [46.5%] from active disease. TG level had significant relationship with disease activity, sTNFR[2] [P=0.001] and TNF-alpha [P=0/01], while HDL level had inverse significant relationship with SLEDAI [P=0.007], TNF [P=0.01], STNFR1 [P=0.001]. There was no significant relation between TG and HDL with STNFR2. Multiple linear analysis of regression showed that three variables [TG, sTNFR[1] and sTNFR[2]] are maintained in the model for prognosis of the disease while TNF-alpha and HDL are omitted. Dislipoproteinemia [elevated TG and reduced HDL] correlates with SLE activity following an increase in TNF-alpha and its soluble receptors. Thus, serum levels of TG, HDL and TNF-alpha and its soluble receptors are connected with lupus activity and are valuable markers for the disease activity