Evaluation of the Lipid Profile and its Correlation to Inflammatory Markers in a Sample of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients in Iraq

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent chronic, autoimmune diseases of the joints. Although the disease itself is rarely deadly, complications such as disorders of pulmonary and cardiovascular can increase mortality. RA patients can suffer from significant dyslipidemia at various stages of the disease, where the lipid profile may be altered because of the inflammatory activity of the disease. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate the correlation between lipid profile and markers of inflammation including rheumatoid factor (RF), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in a sample of Iraqi RA patients. In this study a total of 60 samples were obtained from RA patients and 30 samples from healthy individuals as a control group then samples were tested to measure the levels of lipid and inflammatory markers. The Correlation between lipid profile and inflammatory markers was studied by using Pearson’s correlation (r=−1 to 1). Out of 60 RA patients, 50 were females (83%) and 10 were males (17%) with a mean of age 46.15±10.74 years and a mean disease period of 9.17±6.73 years. The mean of total cholesterol in patients was 194 ± 45.39 mg/dl and the mean of triglycerides was 118 ± 46.78 mg/dl while the mean of HDL, LDL, and VLDL were (46.13±11.14, 125.7±38.63, and 23.59±9.35 mg/dl) respectively in the patients. The mean of RF was (92.04±71.21 IU/ml) while CRP was (5.877±5.92 mg/l) and ESR was (34.17±17.85 mm/h). In conclusion, there was no correlation between inflammatory biomarkers and parameters of lipid profile..

Keywords

• rheumatoid arthritis,,
• ,،rheumatoid factor (rf),,
• ,،erythrocyte sedimentation rate (esr),,
• ,،lipid profile,,
• ,،cholesterol