Subject of research – structural and functional state of bone tissue in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); objective – the improvement of diagnostics of deterioration of the structural and functional state of bone tissue in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) of different reproductive age by studying the mineral density characteristics and peculiarities of metabolic (osteocalcin (OС), C-terminal propeptide of procollagen type 1 (PICP), pyridinoline (PYD), C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX)), state of bone tissue and their association with the course of the disease; methods – clinical methods, indexes of disease severity and activity, immunoassay, thoracic and lumbar spine X-ray, hip X-ray, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, statistical; scientific novelty and results are based on a comprehensive examination of patients' structural and functional state of bone tissue, its' interrelation with the peculiarities of the metabolic state (ОС, PICP, СТХ, PYD) of bone tissue, age, duration of the disease, markers of systemic inflammation, glucocorticoid levels and serum estradiol concentration were estimated; it has been established, that reduced BMD is twice prevalent in women with SLE than in practically healthy ones; structural and functional changes in bone tissue (lumbar/hip T-score) are associated with levels of proinflammatory cytokines CRP and IL-6, the cumulative dose of glucocorticoids, age, duration of the disease and there is no association with smoking and body mass index (BMI); low energy fractures were detected in 13 (14.2 %) patients with SLE, of which 4 (30.7 %) – fractures of the femoral neck and 9 (69.3 %) – fractures of the vertebral bodies; fractures were closely associated with the index of damage to the internal organs, serum CRP and IL-6, as well as glucocorticoid levels; the average BMD of the lumbar hip was significantly lower in individuals with fractures than without them; there was no association between the fractures and the age of patients, the duration of the disease, BMI and smoking; the metabolic status of bone tissue was first studied in Ukrainian SLE patients and it was shown that almost every second patient had a decrease in bone formation markers (OC and PICP) and an increase in bone resorption markers (CTX and PYD), in 15 (25.9 %) SLE patients the combination of these phenomena was noticed, in the control group there was no combination of the above-mentioned processes; the combination of low content of synthetic markers and high markers of resorption was closely associated with serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, and CRP, activity (SLEDAI) and severity (DI) of disease, age, glucocorticoid loading and did not significantly depend on the duration of the disease, BMI and smoking; introduction – diagnostic and treatment work of Department of non-coronary heart diseases and rheumatology of state institution “National Scientific Center “Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology” of Ukrainian NAMS”, rheumatologic department of Vinnytsia Regional Pirogov Memorial Clinical Hospital, rheumatologic and expert departments of Research Institute of Rehabilitation of Vinnytsia National Pirogov Memorial Medical University (educational, scientific and therapeutic center), rheumatological department of the municipal non-profit enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Council “Regional Clinical Hospital”, is used in educational process of Departments of Internal Medicine No 1, 2, 3, Department of clinical pharmacology, Department of internal medicine of the medical faculty № 2, Department of medical rehabilitation and medical and social expertise at Vinnytsia National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Department of clinical immunology and allergology named after Academician E. M. Neyko of the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University; scope of use – diagnosis and treatment at departments of rheumatology and therapy, educational process at the chairs of therapy of medical educational institutions.
