Vitamin D status in women with rheumatoid arthritis: Frequency of hypovitaminosis, associations with disease activity, body composition and comorbidity

Abstract

Aim. To evaluate the status of vitamin D in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and establish its associations with comorbidity, disease activity, and body composition components. Materials and methods. 86 women with RA (average age 58.18.5 years) were enrolled in the study. We analyzed the relationship of vitamin D levels with clinical and laboratory parameters and with the results of two-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Mann Whitney or Kruskal Wallis, 2 and Spearman tests were performed using Statistica for Windows 10.0 (StatSoft Inc., USA). Results. Vitamin D level was 22.4 [17.8; 27.3] ng/ml: deficiency was detected in 33%, and insufficiency in 46% of women with RA. Only 41% of patients with low vitamin D levels received supplements of cholecalciferol, while only 9% in a sufficient dose. 25(OH)D level was significantly lower in RA patients with sarcopenia, obesity, high activity according to DAS28 and in those who did not receive vitamin D supplements. There weren t differences in 25(OH)D levels among subgroups of patient according to age, fertility, BMD status, comorbidity index, RA duration, ESR and CRP levels, medical therapy performed. Conclusion. 79% of patients with RA had low levels of vitamin D, while less than half of them received additional cholecalciferol supplements. Low vitamin D levels in RA patients were associated with high disease activity, sarcopenia, and obesity.