Aggressive anti-inflammatory treatment correlated with slowed bone loss in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, according to findings from a prospective cohort study.
The results show that "modern aggressive treatment" can reduce osteoporosis in patients with RA, said Dr. Glenn Haugeberg of the rheumatology department at the Hospital of Southern Norway Trust in Kristiansand and his associates.
Photo by Anette Stromsbo Gjorv
Dr. Glenn Haugeberg
In all, 18.5% of patients with RA used biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs during the first 2 years of the study, while 62.6% used these drugs during the next 8 years, at the same time that average bone mineral density loss slowed substantially, the researchers said.
The average yearly rate of bone loss at 2 years and 10 years slowed from –1.00% to –0.56% for the femoral neck, from –0.96% to –0.41% for total spine, and from –0.42% to 0.00% for the L1-L4 vertebrae, the researchers reported (BMC Musculoskelet. Disord. 2014 Sept. 2 [doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-15-289]).
The study included 92 patients (mean age, 50.9 years) with RA, of whom about two-thirds were women, and 80% had their bone mineral densities assessed at 10 years. Patients had experienced symptoms for a mean of 12.4 months.
Contrary to findings from some prior studies, glucocorticoid use was linked to bone loss during only the first 2 years of the study period and only for total hip measurements, the researchers said.
Almost half the patients had missing baseline data on bone mineral density. The study also lacked matched controls and did not assess the prevalence or incidence of vertebral fractures, the authors added.
Funding information for the study was not available. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.