Association between vitamin D level in rheumatoid arthritis in males and females

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology. The worldwide prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis is estimated to vary between 0.5 to 1.5% with geographic variation. The rationale behind relating vitamin D and RA is based on two facts. The first one is that there is evidence indicating that patients with RA have low levels of vitamin D. The second one is that the presence of vitamin D and VDR in macrophages, chondrocytes and synovial cells in the joints of these patients has also been demonstrated. The present study was designed to study the vitamin D status/ level in rheumatoid arthritis in males and females. The study was carried on 100 subjects chosen randomly with 75 females and 25 males in age group of 16 – 65 years. Their demographic data was collected. Vitamin D level, rheumatoid factor assay and ESR were analyzed. Higher level of disease activity as measured by DAS 28 score was associated with vitamin D deficiency. Females reported higher values for ESR, DAS 28 score and lower levels of vitamin D level as compared to males.Vitamin D deficiency was positively associated with increase in DAS 28 score and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Female sex had more preponderance for RA development. Rheumatoid factor had no gender preponderance.