Vitamin D status and bone mineral density in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Background. Monitoring bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) with additional assessment of calcidiol (25(OH)D) serum level is an indicator of catabolism status and a criterion of successful therapy. Our objective was to evaluate the bone densitometry data and calcidiol level in patients with JRA in order to determine the osteopenic syndrome and the advisability of prescribing additional doses of vitamin D. Materials and methods. The calcidiol level and BMD were assessed in 65 patients with JRA. The data were processed using Pearson’s chi-squared test and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results. There was a violation of vitamin D level in 92 % of patients with JRA. 60 % of patients were diagnosed with secondary osteopenic syndrome (Z-score ≤ –2 SD) using the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. It was revealed that persons, who receive biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs as a part of integrated treatment, demonstrate significantly better results (р < 0.01) according to BMD assessment data. The strong negative association (Spearman’s coefficient was –0.72) was observed between BMD and the level of disease activity. A direct moderate correlation was found between BMD and calcidiol level (Spearman’s correlation coefficient is 0.39). Conclusions. We assume that it would be appropriate to evaluate the calcidiol level and BMD score in the management of JRA patients. 68 % of persons with JRA, who receive biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs as a part of standard therapy, have normal BMD.

Keywords

• juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• bone mineral density
• calcidiol