title: Whole body bone tissue and cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Introduction. Atherosclerosis and osteoporosis share an age-independent bidirectional correlation. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) represents a risk factor for both conditions. Objectives. The study aims to evaluate the connection between the estimated cardiovascular risk (CVR) and the loss of bone tissue in RA patients. Methods. The study has a prospective cross-sectional design and it includes female in-patients with RA or without autoimmune diseases; bone tissue was measured using whole body dual X-ray absorptiometry (wbDXA); CVR was estimated using SCORE charts and PROCAM applications. Results. There were 75 RA women and 66 normal women of similar age. The wbDXA bone indices correlate significantly, negatively, and age-independently with the estimated CVR. The whole body bone percent (wbBP) was a significant predictor of estimated CVR, explaining 26% of SCORE variation along with low density lipoprotein (P < 0.001) and 49.7% of PROCAM variation along with glycemia and menopause duration (P < 0.001). Although obese patients had less bone relative to body composition (wbBP), in terms of quantity their bone content was significantly higher than that of nonobese patients. Conclusions. Female patients with RA and female patients with cardiovascular morbidity have a lower whole body bone percent. Obese female individuals have higher whole body bone mass than nonobese patients.
authors.affiliation: "Sfânta Maria" Clinical Hospital, 37-39 Ion Mihalache Boulevard, District 1, 011192 Bucharest, Romania ; Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 011192 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Claudiu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.affiliation: "Sfânta Maria" Clinical Hospital, 37-39 Ion Mihalache Boulevard, District 1, 011192 Bucharest, Romania ; Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 011192 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bojincă
authors.affiliation: "Sfânta Maria" Clinical Hospital, 37-39 Ion Mihalache Boulevard, District 1, 011192 Bucharest, Romania ; Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 011192 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Opriş
authors.affiliation: "Sfânta Maria" Clinical Hospital, 37-39 Ion Mihalache Boulevard, District 1, 011192 Bucharest, Romania ; Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 011192 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Ruxandra
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7651-0099
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ionescu