RESEARCH - Abnormal body composition phenotypes in older RA patients: association with disease characteristics and pharmacotherapies

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Arthritis Rheum. 2008 May 30;59(6):807-815. [Epub ahead of print]

Abnormal body composition phenotypes in older rheumatoid arthritis

patients: Association with disease characteristics and

pharmacotherapies.

Giles JT, Ling SM, Ferrucci L, Bartlett SJ, Andersen RE, Towns M,

Muller D, Fontaine KR, Bathon JM.

s Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, land.

OBJECTIVE: To compare measures of body fat and lean mass and the

prevalence of abnormal body composition phenotypes (sarcopenia,

overfat, and sarcopenic obesity) in men and women with rheumatoid

arthritis (RA) versus matched controls, and to explore the

disease-related predictors of abnormal body composition in patients

with RA. METHODS: A total of 189 men and women with RA and 189 age-,

sex-, and race-matched non-RA controls underwent dual-energy x-ray

absorptiometry for measurement of total and regional body fat and lean

mass. Continuous and categorical measures of body composition were

compared between RA and control subjects by sex and according to

categories of body mass index (BMI). Within the group of RA patients,

demographic, lifestyle, and RA disease and treatment characteristics

were compared for RA patients with healthy body composition versus

those with abnormal body composition phenotypes. RESULTS: Compared

with non-RA controls, RA status was significantly associated with

greater odds of sarcopenia, overfat, and sarcopenic obesity in women,

but not in men. Relative differences in body composition phenotypes

between RA and control subjects were greatest for patients in the

normal weight BMI category (<25 kg/m(2)). Among RA characteristics,

increasing joint deformity, self-reported disability scores,

C-reactive protein levels, rheumatoid factor seropositivity, and a

lack of current treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs

were significantly associated with abnormal body composition.

CONCLUSION: Abnormal body composition phenotypes are overrepresented

in patients with RA, particularly in those in the normal weight BMI

range. RA-associated disease and treatment characteristics contribute

to this increase in abnormal body composition.

PMID: 18512711

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18512711

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