Lipid profile in rheumatoid arthritis and its relation to disease activity.

ABSTRACT

AIM OF THE STUDY To ascertain whether--1. Serum lipids are altered in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 2. Disease activity has any role in altering lipid profile. METHODOLOGY: Lipid profiles of 25 RA cases were compared with age and sex matched controls. RESULTS: Serum triglycerides (STG) and total cholesterol (TC) were found to be significantly lower in RA patients. In patients with very active disease, activity index (AI) > 80, STG, TC and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) were significantly lower as compared to controls. For TG 'r' value of -0.483 indicated negative correlation between disease activity and TG values, though the correlation is not significant (p > 0.05). For TC 'r' value (-0.0551) indicates negative correlation between disease activity and serum TC.