Sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Povorozniuk V.V. ¹, Dzerovych N.I.¹, Ivanyk O.S.¹, Karasevska T.A.²

• ¹ДУ «Інститут геронтології ім. Д.Ф. Чеботарьова НАМН України», Київ
• ²O.O. Bohomolets National Medical University, Kyiv

Summary. Considering the significant aging of the world’s population, today, much attention of scientists is paid to the study of geriatric states among them is sarcopenia. In 2016, sarcopenia is included in the International Classification of Diseases. There are the primary and secondary forms of state. This article presents the literature data and the results of its own studies on sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of this study was to eva­luate the bone mineral density, lean mass and the frequency of prescarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Materials and methods. 461 wo­men aged 40–87 years (age 57.17±0.71 years) were examined, among them 71 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 390 women of control group. We conducted the clinical and labo­ratory examination (evaluation of the rate of precipitation of erythrocytes and C-reactive protein in serum). The intensity of the pain was determined using visual analogue scale, the quality of life — using the HAQ questionnaire. Lean mass, bone mineral density were determined using X-ray absorptiometry (Pro­digy, GEHC Lunar, Madison, WI, USA). Presarcopenia (first stage of sarcopenia) was determined with an appendicular lean mass index of less than 5.72 kg/m (Povoroz­nyuk V.V., Dze­rovich N.I., 2016) [11]. The statistical analysis was conducted using the «Statistica 6.0» program. Results. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis had significantly lower hip bone mine­ral density (p=0.002), lean mass of the whole body (p=0.01) and appendicular lean mass (p<0.01). The frequency of presarcopena in women with rheumatoid arthritis was 49%, in the control group — 18%. Conclusions. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis nad not only bone lesions, but also skeletal muscle tissue, which leads to significant deterioration of functional capa­city and quality of life of patients. Given the significant medical and social significance of the problem, further researches on the mechanisms of pathogenesis, development of diagnostic methods, prevention and treatment of sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis are needed.