Characteristics and features of bone turnover in rheumatoid arthritis patients with osteoporosis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease with a chronic inflammatory process that negatively affects bone metabolism, leading to a violation of bone mineral density (BMD). Bone remodeling markers are important indicators of the state of bone tissue that can provide additional important information for the clinician about BMD disorders. The patients were randomly enrolled in the study with preliminary stratification by the presence of RA as well as the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism in 2010, also normal bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis (OP) were diagnosed by ultrasound bone densitometry. The study included 42 patients (33 women (78,57 %) and 9 men (21,43 %)) aged 38 to 60 years. The control group consisted of 22 healthy individuals of (18 women (81.81 %) and 4 men (18.19 %) with no BMD disorders. Markers of bone formation, osteocalcin (OC), P1NP and bone resorption β-CrossLaps were studied. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the serum content of both OC and P1NP is significantly lower, while β-CrossLaps is slightly higher in RA patients with OP compared to healthy individuals. Also, OC and P1NP in the blood serum is significantly lower in RA patients with OP compared with RA patients with normal BMD, and the content of β-CrossLaps did not have a significant difference in RA patients with OP compared with RA patients with normal BMD. In rheumatoid arthritis patients with OP, bone mineral density disorder is marked by a decrease in bone formation and an increase in resorption processes.