Affiliations: [a] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilition, Division of Rheumatology, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey | [b] Department of Biostatistics, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey | [c] Department of Biochemistry, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Serda Em, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey. Fax: +90 4122488523; E-mail:serdaem@hotmail.com
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the activity of serum
relaxin in female patients with benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS),
locomotor system findings accompanying BJHS, and its relation to relaxin. METHODS: Into the study, female patients with BJHS and healthy
women as the control group were included. The patients were diagnosed by
using the Brighton 1998 criteria. Examination of the locomotor system for
study groups were performed. Serum relaxin levels of both patient and
control group were measured. RESULTS: There were 48 female patients with BJHS and 40 healthy
women in the study. With respect to the control group, the level of serum
relaxin was higher in the patients (47.1 ± 20.3, 34.4 ± 22.1; p> 0.05).
Again compared with the control group, arthralgia (p= 0.00), myalgia
(p= 0.01), shoulder impingement syndrome (p= 0.05), pes planus (p= 0.01), and hyperkyphosis
(p= 0.000) were higher in the patients. The level of relaxin median was
significantly higher in the patients with pesplanus and hyperkyphosis than those who did not have
them (p= 0.05, p= 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Although serum relaxin level is not considered a
causative factor for BJHS, the significant increases found in those patients
with hyperkyphosis and pes planus suggest the hypothesis that relaxin has a
limited and indefinite role in patients with BJHS.
