ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases worldwide. Some researchers have suggested that the serum vitamin D (Vit D) level may relate to disease activity. The current study was designed to identify the correlation between vitamin D prescription and prevention of relapses in rheumatoid arthritis. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A double blinded, randomized controlled trial study was performed using 80 RA patients. RA was controlled and patients were in remission during the past 2 months. Serum level of Vit D in the studied patients was below 30 ng/dl. Patients were randomly allocated to receive Vit D or placebo. In the 6-month follow-up period, the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) was used in case of relapses as an index of RA activity to compare the two groups. RESULTS: The flare rate was not different between two groups (p > 0.05). The odds ratio of the rate of decline in patients of the trial group compared with the control group was 1.17 (not significant; p > 0.05). The mean DAS28 between the two patient groups was not significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: A low Vit D level was not identified to be a risk factor for RA severity or flare ups; however, although not statistically significant, Vit D treatment might be clinically effective. Further studies are needed with more emphasis on the issue of cost effectiveness and clinical importance to provide more information.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/blood , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy , Vitamin D Deficiency/blood , Vitamin D Deficiency/prevention & control , Vitamin D/blood , Vitamin D/therapeutic use , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/diagnosis , Biomarkers/blood , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and Specificity , Treatment Outcome , Vitamin D Deficiency/diagnosisABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between fasting serum leptin, adiponectin and resistin levels and bone mineral density (BMD) in osteoporosis patients and a non-osteoporosis control group. We studied 81 non-diabetic osteoporosis patients (92 % female, 8 % male; mean age 54.5 ± 15.5 years and body mass index [BMI] 28.2 ± 4.6) and 120 non-diabetic individuals with normal BMD as controls (86 % female, 14 % male; mean age 39.7 ± 10.4 years and BMI 28.8 ± 4.4). BMD was studied by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry from the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and femoral neck and fasting blood samples were taken for biochemical measurement of fasting blood glucose, leptin, adiponectin and resistin. Fasting levels of plasma adiponectin had a significant negative correlation with BMD of the femoral neck and lumbar spine in the osteoporosis group (r = -0.478, P = 0.003, r = -0.513, P = 0.023) but not in the non-osteoporosis group (r = -0.158, P = 0.057, r = -0.23, P = 0.465). Fasting plasma levels of resistin were significantly correlated only with femur BMD in the osteoporosis group, and not significantly correlated with lumbar spine BMD (r = -0.244, P = 0.048 vs r = 0.276, P = 0.56). Leptin did not have a significant correlation with BMD in either the osteoporosis or non-osteoporosis groups (P > 0.05). Adiponectin had a significant negative correlation with BMD of the lumbar spine and femoral neck. The correlation between leptin and resistin are not inconclusive.
