Activities of redox enzymes of peripheral blood leukocytes is studied in patients with postmenopausal osteopenia. Neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MP), alkaline phosphatase (AP) and lymphocyte succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and succinate.cytochrome C oxyreductase (SCOR) activities were measured by the cytochemical method. Densitometric examinations of 49 postmenopausal women without risk of secondary osteoporosis revealed osteoporosis in 15 (31%)) and osteopenia in 24 (49%)); in 10 (20%o) mineral compactness of bones was normal. AP and SDH activities were increased and SCOR and MP activities normal in patients with osteopenia. Changes in the activities of AL and SDH in subjects with different duration of the postmenopausal period indicate that the main factor affecting the activities of these enzymes was osteopenia but not the duration of postmenopause or age. Significant correlations between enzyme values and mineral compactness of the spine were the most numerous during the first three years of postmenopause, and therefore changes in leukocyte enzyme activities are apparently not caused by inflammations associated with chronic macroand microfractures of the vertebrae but by osteopenia. The detected specific correlation between enzyme activities and localization of the pathological process in certain segments of the skeleton permits us to propose that leukocyte AL and SDH values may serve as criteria for optimal choice of skeletal area for subsequent densitometry or x-ray examination.
Altered Hydroxylation of Estrogen in Patients with Postmenopausal Osteopenia
