Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase protein, total alkaline phosphatase activity and lactate dehydrogenase in sera of patients with sickle cell disease

Serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase protein (bAP) was evaluated as indicator of bone turnover by immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) in twenty patients with sickle cell disease and in twenty healthy control subjects. Serum bAP was also compared with serum total alkaline phosphatase activity and serum lactate dehydrogenase in the same group. The concentrations of serum bAP and serum lactate dehydrogenase were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). The serum total alkaline phosphatase activity showed no significant difference with the control healthy subjects. There was no correlation between serum bAP and total alkaline phosphatase or lactate dehydrogenase levels in the patient group. In conclusion, serum bAP protein measured by IRMA can be considered a sensitive marker of bone turnover and could be especially useful as valuable non-invasive biochemical marker for identifying sickle cell patients with skeletal complications.