Nutritional status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

M Helliwell, E J Coombes, B J Moody, G F Batstone, J C Robertson

A nutritional assessment of 50 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) showed evidence of malnutrition in 13 (26%), while all 50 control subjects had normal nutritional status. Of the anthropometric measurements the body-mass index and triceps skinfold thickness values in men and women were significantly reduced in RA patients compared with controls. Upper arm muscle circumference was significantly less in male but not female rheumatoid patients. In addition all six biochemical determinants of nutrition assayed-serum albumin, transferrin, retinol-binding protein, thyroxine-binding prealbumin, zinc, and folic acid-were significantly lower in the RA group of patients. Malnourished patients had more active disease than the remaining RA patients, with significantly higher ESR, C-reactive protein, and alpha 1 antichymotrypsin measurements. Significant inverse correlations were found between some biochemical measurements of nutrition and indices of disease activity. Our results suggest that in RA the severity of disease adversely affects the nutritional status.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Summers, G. D., Deighton, C. M., Rennie, M. J., Booth, A. H. (2008). Rheumatoid cachexia: a clinical perspective. Rheumatology (Oxford) 47: 1124-1131 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lofthouse, C. M., Azad, F., Baildam, E. M., Akobeng, A. K. (2002). Measuring the nutritional status of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis using the bioelectrical impedance method. Rheumatology (Oxford) 41: 1172-1177 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Akner, G., Cederholm, T. (2001). Treatment of protein-energy malnutrition in chronic nonmalignant disorders. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 74: 6-24 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Stephensen, C. B, Gildengorin, G. (2000). Serum retinol, the acute phase response, and the apparent misclassification of vitamin A status in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 72: 1170-1178 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Munro, R, Capell, H (1997). Prevalence of low body mass in rheumatoid arthritis: association with the acute phase response. Ann Rheum Dis 56: 326-329 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kershner, R. B., Lasswell, A. B. (1992). Nutritional considerations in the management of arthritis in the home health patient. Home Health Care Management Practice 4: 23-33 [Abstract]