Reduction of bone mineral density in rheumatoid arthritis: A longitudinal study

In the last decade, more accurate quantitative methods to assess bone mass in vivo have become available. We have applied these techniques to assess periodic changes of bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In this longitudinal study, 132 female RA patients were divided into two groups. The first group of 90 patients were postmenopausal, with a mean age of 60.2 years (PM group), whereas the second group of 42 patients were premenopausal, with a mean age of 42.7 years (M group). The clinical courses of these patients were followed for an average of 3 years. Bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine (L2-L4), and the femoral neck were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and second metacarpal bone mineral density was measured by using densitometric techniques periodically. Reduction of BMD in the lumbar spine was significant in both groups (P < 0.01-0.05), but there was no statistical difference between the two groups. The BMD of the femoral neck had a tendency to decrease but this was not significant. The predictors for periodic bone loss in the PM group were aging and nutritional factors, whereas for the M group they were indices of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity.