Circulating leptin and resistin levels in a Romanian rheumatoid arthritis population

Abstract

Objective. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic autoimmune disease which primarily affects the joints, is associated with various cardiometabolic comorbidities. These comorbidities, particularly metabolic syndrome, exert an altered secretion of proinflammatory adipokines that increase cardiovascular risk in rheumatic diseases. Leptin and resistin are two of the most important and intensely-studied adipocytokines. Increased serum levels of both leptin and resistin in RA patients have been previously reported but the results are conflicting. This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of leptin and resistin in a Romanian rheumatoid arthritis population and to compare them with the serum concentrations of healthy controls. Material and methods. We assessed clinical and biochemical parameters in 84 RA patients and 44 healthy controls with the help of specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results. Mean disease duration was 12.1±9.6 years and RA patients had a mean disease activity score of 4.24±1.3, as assessed by Disease Activity Score-28 using C-reactive protein (DAS-28 CRP). RA patients showed significantly higher concentrations of serum leptin than controls (median 28.63 ng/ml vs. 21.16 ng/ml, p=.03) while there was a trend for an elevated serum resistin level in RA patients (median 15.98 ng/ml vs. 14.05 ng/ml) which did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.41). Conclusions. The current study shows a significant increase in circulating leptin but not resistin in RA patients than in controls. The link between adipokines, the chronic pro-inflammatory state and consequent cardiometabolic complications warrants further larger and longitudinally-designed studies.

Keywords

• leptin
• resistin
• adipokines
• rheumatoid arthritis
• cardiometabolic risk