Incidence of metabolic syndrome in incipient female patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective To examine the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in incipient female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and study the relationship between MS and disease activity of RA. Methods The clinical data of 102 incipient female RA patients (RA group) and 125 healthy controls (control group) were retrospectively analyzed. The incidence of MS was compared between 2 groups, and the clinical and laboratory data were analyzed between patients with MS and patients without MS. Results There were no statistical differences in age, body mess index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) between 2 groups (P >0.05). The incidences of waist circumference ≥ 80 cm, TG ≥ 1.70 mmol/L, HDL-C ≤ 1.30 mmol/L, MS according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel Ⅲ (NCEP-ATP Ⅲ) standard and MS according to the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) standard in RA group were significantly higher than those in control group: 39.2% (40/102) vs. 25.6% (32/125), 37.3% (38/102) vs. 24.0% (30/125), 34.3% (35/102) vs. 21.6% (27/125), 34.3% (35/102) vs. 22.4% (28/125) and 27.5% (28/102) vs. 16.0% (20/125)%, and there were statistical differences (P 0.05). The RA patients were divided into RA with MS (35 cases) and RA without MS (67 cases) according to the MS diagnostic standard of NCEP-ATPⅢ. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and blood uric acid in RA with MS patients were significantly higher than those in RA without MS patients: (68.1 ± 26.3) mm/h vs. (40.1 ± 30.6) mm/h, 4.260 mg/L vs. 1.505 mg/L and (330.5 ± 69.1) μmol/L vs. (269.0 ± 67.5) μmol/L, and there were statistical differences (P 0.05). Conclusions The incidence of MS in incipient female patients with RA is higher than that in healthy controls, and RA patients are more prone to abdominal obesity, TG increasing and HDL-C decreasing. The inflammatory index and blood uric acid levels in RA with MS patients are significantly higher than those in RA without MS patients. Key words: Arthritis, rheumatoid; Metabolic syndrome X; Retrospective studies