Changes in Bone Mineral Density Over 10 Years in Patients with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis - European Medical Journal

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Changes in Bone Mineral Density Over 10 Years in Patients with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis

2 Mins
Rheumatology
Authors:
*Lisa Theander,1 Minna Willim,2,3 Jan Åke Nilsson,1,3 Magnus Karlsson,4 Kristina Åkesson,4 Carl Turesson1,3

1. Rheumatology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
2. Rheumatology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
3. Department of Rheumatology, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö and Lund, Sweden
4. Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
*Correspondence to [email protected]

Disclosure:

The authors have declared no conflicts of interests.

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to acknowledge Dr Christina Book, who initiated this project and performed a major part of the data collection, but sadly passed away before the preparation of this abstract. This study was supported by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Rheumatism Association, and Lund University.

Citation:
EMJ Rheumatol. ;5[1]:52-54. Abstract Review No. AR6.
Keywords:
Bone mineral density (BMD), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), longitudinal survey, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Each article is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License.

BACKGROUND

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been shown to have an increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Most studies on RA and osteoporosis are cross-sectional and only a few have investigated changes in bone mineral density (BMD) over time.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this investigation was to study changes in BMD in men and women with early RA over a period of 10 years.

METHODS

An inception cohort of consecutive patients with early RA (N=233, symptom duration <12 months), recruited from 1995–2005, was investigated.1,2 Patients were followed according to a structured programme, including dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the left femoral neck and the lumbar spine (L2–L4) at inclusion and after 2, 5, and 10 years. Z-scores (standard deviations above or below the mean BMD for the given age and sex) were calculated using a cohort of healthy individuals from the same area as the reference population. The mean Z-score over the study period was estimated using mixed linear effect models. Changes in Z-scores between follow-up visits were analysed using the paired T-test. Data are presented as mean values with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

At inclusion, 220 patients were examined with DXA. The corresponding numbers of patients examined at 2, 5, and 10 years were 196, 173, and 122, respectively. Among those with baseline DXA data, the mean age was 60 years, the mean symptom duration was 7.4 months, and 70% of the population were women. Men were older than women (mean age of 63 versus 59 years, respectively) and more often treated with corticosteroids at inclusion (49% versus 35%, respectively). Most of the patients were on disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (86% of males and 81% of females). More women were treated for osteoporosis (using bisphosphonates and/or calcium and vitamin D), and 16% of the female participants were on oestrogen at inclusion.

At the femoral neck, the mean Z-score over 10 years was -0.07 (95% CI: -0.22–0.08) in women and -0.33 (95% CI: -0.57–[-0.08]) in men. Men had significantly lower BMD at the femoral neck than expected by age at inclusion. The was no significant change in femoral neck Z-scores over time in men and women. At the lumbar spine, the mean Z-score for women was 0.06 (95% CI: -0.10–0.21) and -0.05 (95% CI: -0.29–0.19) for men. There was a significant increase in Z-scores at the lumbar spine over time in both groups.

In the paired comparisons of BMD at different follow-up visits, Z-scores in the femoral neck decreased significantly from inclusion to the 5-year follow-up visit in men (mean change: -0.23 [95% CI: -0.43–(-0.03)]). After 5 years, no further reduction was seen. Lumbar spine BMD Z-scores increased in both men and women over the study period (mean change: 0.36 [95% CI: 0.21–0.52] in women and 0.47 [95% CI: 0.20–0.74] in men).

CONCLUSION

In this study of patients with early RA, men had low femoral neck BMD at the start of the study and kept losing bone mass during the first 5 years of follow-up. Lumbar spine BMD Z-scores in both women and men increased significantly over the study period. Potential explanations for the low femoral neck BMD in men include factors that may predispose the patients to both RA and low BMD, such as smoking and low androgen levels.3 The increasing lumbar spine BMD could be due to more extensive antiosteoporotic treatment compared to the reference population, or could be the result of more artefacts, such as extensive aortic calcification or degenerative spinal changes, in patients with RA.

References
Rydholm M et al. Despite early improvement, patients with rheumatoid arthritis still have impaired grip force 5 years after diagnosis. Arthritis Care Res. 2018;70:491-8. Rydell E et al. Smoking, body mass index, disease  activity, and the risk of rapid radiographic progression in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Res Ther. 2018;20:82. Pikwer M et al. Association between testosterone levels and risk of future rheumatoid arthritis in men. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014;73(3):573-9.

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