ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Little is known about body composition in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Our objective was to compare body composition parameters in PsA patients and healthy controls and then investigate the effects of ustekinumab (UST) on body composition in patients with PsA. METHODS: At baseline, 30 PsA patients were compared cross-sectionally with 60 healthy controls without PsA, matched for age, sex, menopausal status, and body mass index (BMI). Thirty active PsA patients treated with UST were included in a 6-month open follow-up study. Body composition parameters were measured at baseline and 6 months of treatment. RESULTS: Body composition parameters were different in PsA patients compared to healthy controls; in PsA patients, total and appendicular lean mass were lower (P = 0.013 and P = 0.010, respectively), whereas total fat mass was higher (P < 0.001). In 30% of the PsA patients, skeletal muscle mass was below the cutoff for low muscle quantity (men 7.26 kg/m2 , women 5.5 kg/m2 ), whereas no such change was observed in the control group. After 6 months of treatment with UST, there was no significant change in BMI in 18 of the PsA patients. Total lean mass decreased slightly (P = 0.046), whereas fat mass tended to increase, but not significantly. No significant changes in appendicular lean mass and skeletal muscle mass index were observed. CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that PsA patients had higher fat mass and lower lean mass than healthy controls. At 6-months of treatment, total lean mass decreased slightly, whereas fat mass tended to increase, but not significantly.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Psoriatic , Absorptiometry, Photon , Arthritis, Psoriatic/diagnosis , Arthritis, Psoriatic/drug therapy , Body Composition/physiology , Body Mass Index , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Interleukin-12 , Interleukin-23 , Male , Ustekinumab/therapeutic useABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: In psoriatic arthritis (PsA), comorbidities add to the burden of disease, which may lead to poorer quality of life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between comorbidities and quality of life (QOL). METHODS: Patients from a multicentric, cross-sectional study on comorbidities in PsA were included in the analysis. Data on comorbidities were collected and were subsequently used to compute the modified Rheumatic Disease Comorbidity Index (mRDCI). The Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 questionnaire physical (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scales were used to assess QOL. RESULTS: In total, 124 recruited patients fulfilled the ClASsification for Psoriatic ARthritis criteria (CASPAR): 62.1% were male; mean age and mean disease duration were 52.6 ± 12.6 years and 11.3 ± 9.6 years, respectively. The number of comorbid conditions was 2.0 ± 1.3, with 30.6% of the sample having currently or a history of 3 or more comorbidities. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, only anxiety remained significantly related to mental health (p < 0.0001). Anxiety alone accounted for 28.7% of the variance in MCS scores. Moreover, MCS was also significantly associated with the mRDCI score, which explained 4.9% of the variance in MCS [ß = -1.56 (standard error 0.64), R2 = 0.049, p = 0.0167]. In contrast, PCS was not significantly associated either with type or number of comorbidities. CONCLUSION: In this study, the type of comorbidity appeared to have a greater effect than the number of comorbidities. Indeed, anxiety in PsA was independently associated with QOL and would thus be an important factor to take into account in daily clinical practice.
