Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease. This study evaluates the effect of blue mussel intake on disease activity and quality of life in women with RA. Thirty-nine women with established RA and a disease activity score 28 (DAS28) >3.0 were recruited to a randomized 2 × 11-week cross-over dietary intervention. The participants continued with their medication and habitual diet and exchanged one cooked meal a day, five days a week, with a meal including 75 g blue mussels or 75 g meat. Diets were switched after an eight week washout period. Data regarding quality of life (SF-36), blood lipids, erythrocyte sediment rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and tender and swollen joints were examined at the start and end of each dietary period. Thirty women completed one period, and twenty-three completed both. Intake of the blue mussel diet led to a significant reduction of DAS28-CRP (p = 0.048), but not DAS28. The number of EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) criteria moderate and good responders were higher when consuming blue mussel diet (p = 0.036). Blood lipids did not change. To conclude, blue mussel intake reduced disease symptoms in women with RA and improved perceived health. The reported effects need to be confirmed by non-patient reported outcomes, such as inflammation markers.

Highlights

  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by systemic inflammation and joint damage, that affects 0.5–1% of the population globally, predominantly women [1].Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aims at long-term remission, i.e., absence of: joint tenderness, swelling and destruction, pain and functional impairment

  • No significant difference was obtained between measures in disease activity score 28 (DAS28) at the end of the two diet periods, respectively (p = 0.200; Table 4), DAS28 decreased significantly during the blue mussel period (p = 0.017)

  • The results indicate that blue mussels, a foodstuff rich in selenium, iodine, B12 and containing marine n-3 PUFA, as well as other potential bioactive components, decrease disease activity, not significantly, for DAS28, but for DAS28-C-reactive protein (CRP), in eleven weeks

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Summary

Introduction

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by systemic inflammation and joint damage, that affects 0.5–1% of the population globally, predominantly women [1].Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aims at long-term remission, i.e., absence of: joint tenderness, swelling and destruction, pain and functional impairment. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by systemic inflammation and joint damage, that affects 0.5–1% of the population globally, predominantly women [1]. Pain and fatigue are associated with each other, as well as with depression [5] and are significant predictors for high health care costs, loss of employment and physical functioning and poor quality of life [4]. Lifestyle interventions such as physical activity provide evidence of benefit in relation to self-reported fatigue and pain in adults with. The effectiveness of dietary changes on inflammation, pain, fatigue and quality of life has not been satisfactorily evaluated as a result of the few well-controlled dietary interventions [6,7]

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