Abstract
Background:Bone is a target in many inflammatory rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been supposed that an atherogenic lipid profile could be associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) and vertebral fractures (VF).Objectives:We aimed to evaluate the relationship between the lipid profile, BMD and the presence of VF in RA patients.Methods:A cross sectional study was conducted in a population of 169 established RA. In each subject we evaluated the body mass index (BMI), tobacco use, alcohol consumption, presence of diabetes and high blood pression, lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), triglycerides (TG), and VF. RA characteristics were also assessed (disease duration, disease activity score (DAS), auto antibodies, corticosteroid intake, and secondary sjogren’s syndrome). BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in lumbar spine and femoral neck. Logistic and linear regression were performed with SPSS 20, both BMD and VF were assessed as dependent variables.Results:The mean age was 55.5±11.9 years, with a female predominance (152 women). The average BMI was 26.79 ± 5.36. We had 24.3 % of hypertensive patients and 16.6 % of diabetics. The average lipid concentrations were 4.39±1 mmol/L for TC, 1.293±0.36 mmol/L for HDLc, 2.74±0.80 mmol/L for LDLc and 1.25±0.62 mmol/L for TG. At the linear regression there was no correlation between plasma lipid concentrations and BMD, whether at the lumbar spine or the femoral neck. However we found a significant correlation between VF and high TC concentrations (p=0.043, OR: 2.864, 95% IC [1.036-7.922]). At the multivariate regression, high TC levels were still associated with VF, adjusted in BMI, age and the duration of corticosteroid use (p=0.006, OR: 6.07, 95% CI[1.69- 21.77]). The same finding was observed between high concentrations of HDLc and the prevalence of VF adjusted in the same variables (p=0.006, OR: 197.01, 95% CI [4.64-8363.51]).Conclusion:Although there was no relation between lipid plasma levels and BMD in our population. There was a significant association between high concentrations of TC, HDLc and the prevalence of VF.Disclosure of Interests:None declared
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