Cyclic Nucleotides and Catecholamines in Rheumatoid Arthritis

A controlled cross over study on the effect of fasting on cyclic nucleotide and catecholamine excretion was carried out in 12 female RA patients. They were hospitalized during a control and fasting period. The fasting period started with 3 days of habituation to hospital conditions, followed by 7 days of total fasting. Thereafter followed 3 days of realimentation. The control period was in every respect identical with the fasting period, with the exception of food intake. All medication was stopped when the patients were admitted to the hospital. The urinary concentrations of cAMP, cGMP, E and NE were monitored daily. The clinical status of the subjects was evaluated every second day using Ritchie's clinical index. Clinical and laboratory measures of inflammatory activity remained unaltered during the control period, but improved significantly during fasting. Excretion of cAMP and cGMP was low during the control period when compared with published normal levels. The cAMP/cGMP ratio in urine was normal, ho...