Key clinical point: Loss of bone mineral density (BMD) was lower in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieved remission, indicating an important role of treat-to-target therapy in RA, with female sex being a risk factor and low disease activity and bisphosphonate therapy being protective factors.
Major finding: Patients achieving remission had less yearly BMD loss in the lumbar spine ( P = .036). Female sex was a risk factor ( P = .016), whereas low disease activity ( P = .001) and bisphosphonate treatment ( P < .001) were protective factors for BMD loss in patients with RA.
Study details: The data comes from a prospective, observational cohort including 268 patients with RA.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Peking University Health Science Center. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Huang H et al. Impact of treat-to-target therapy on bone mineral density loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A prospective cohort study. Front Endocrinol. 2022;13:867610 (May 17). Doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.867610