Abstract
BackgroundSystemic blockade of TNF‐α in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with insulin resistance (IR) seems to produce more improvement in insulin sensitivity in normal weight patients with RA than in obese patients with RA, suggesting that systemic‐inflammation and obesity are independent risk factors for IR in RA patients. ObjectivesTo evaluate the insulin resistance in: normal weight patients with RA (RA NW), overweight patients with RA (RA OW), obese RA patients (RA OB), and matched control subjects with normal weight (NW) and obesity (OB); and its association with major cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. MethodsAssessments included: body mass index (BMI), insulin resistance by HOMA‐IR, ELISA method, and enzymatic colorimetric assay. ResultsOutstanding results from these studies include: (1) In RA patients, IR was well correlated with Body Mass Index (the higher the BMI, the higher IR), but not with levels of serum cytokines. In fact, levels of cytokines were similar in all RA patients, regardless of being obese, overweight or normal weight (2) IR was significantly higher in RA NW than in NW (3) No significant difference was observed between IRs of RA OB and OB (4) As expected, levels of circulating cytokines were significantly higher in RA patients than in OB. ConclusionsObesity appears to be a dominant condition above inflammation to produce IR in RA patients. The dissociation of the inflammation and obesity components to produce IR suggests the need of an independent therapeutic strategy in obese patients with RA.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.