Higher disease activity increases diabetes risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis: BMJ

The results of this study stated as follow:

1. Over 9223 person-years of follow-up, there were 130 incident cases among 1866 individuals with RA who did not have prevalent diabetes at the time of enrollment.

2. High Disease Activity Score (DAS28)-C reactive protein (CRP), obese BMI, older age, and male sex were linked to an increased risk of incident DM, but current smoking and methotrexate usage were linked to a lower risk.

3. Patients who took methotrexate had a decreased risk.

4. Several cytokines/chemokines, including interleukin(IL)-1, IL-6, and select macrophage-derived cytokines/chemokines (HR range 1.11–1.26), were shown to be independently related (per 1 SD) with DM incidence.

5. These relationships were not caused by the DAS28-CRP.

In conclusion, these findings indicate paying more attention to the risk of diabetes in patients with increased disease activity, as well as more active therapy to lower the risk.

Reference:

Baker JF, England BR, George M, et al. Disease activity, cytokines, chemokines and the risk of incident diabetes in rheumatoid arthritis, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2021;80:566-572. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-219140

Keywords: cytokines, chemokines, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, interleukin, inflammation, body mass index, obesity, British Medical Journal,