title: Disease activity, obesity, functional disability, and depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis : Impact on lipid status, glycoregulation, and risk for coronary heart disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to estimate the impact of disease activity, obesity, functional disability, and depression on lipid status, glycoregulation, and risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 36 patients with RA (30 women and 6 men, mean age 54.9 years, mean disease duration 7.9 years) were included in this study. We estimated the impact of age, body mass index, disease activity [assessed by DAS28 index and C-reactive protein (CRP) value], functional ability (estimated using the HAQ disability index), and depression [assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)] on glycoregulation, lipid status, and risk for CHD in our patients. Glycoregulation was assessed by measuring insulin resistance, insulin, and glucose in blood. Lipids tested in blood included total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG). The 10-year risk for CHD was estimated using the Framingham risk score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 36 patients, 11 (30.6 %) fulfilled the criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS). Ten of 11 patients (90.1 %) with MS have a 10-year risk for CHD greater than 10 % compared to only 3 of 25 patients (12 %) without MS (p = 0.0001). Patients with high disease activity had lower HDL values than patients with mild or moderate disease activity (1.4 vs. 1.7 mmol/l, p = 0.04). Significant correlations were observed between CRP level and insulinemia (ρ = 0.57, p = 0.003), as well as CRP level and the HOMA index (ρ = 0.59, p = 0.002). The body mass index (BMI) correlated significantly with total cholesterol (r = 0.46, p = 0.02), LDL (ρ = 0.41, p = 0.04), and TG (ρ = 0.65, p < 0.001) in blood. The HAQ-DI did not correlate either with parameters of glycoregulation or lipid status. There was a significant positive correlation between BDI and BMI (ρ = 0.60, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Active RA is independently associated with decreased HDL cholesterol and increased insulin resistance. Obesity was found to be an independent risk factor for increased total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and TG. Depressed patients with RA tend to be overweight or obese and, therefore, have an unfavorable lipid profile.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Rheumatology, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Resavska 69, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. ostojic@vektor.net.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ostojic
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bartolovic
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015897:Comorbidity; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D044882:Glucose Metabolism Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D052439:Lipid Metabolism Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008055:Lipids
keywords: Body mass index; Glucose metabolism; Lipids; Metabolic syndrome; Risk factors