Dyslipoproteinemia in the course of active rheumatoid arthritis

Concentrations of serum lipids and serum very low-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins (VLDL+LDL, originally called beta lipoproteins) were measured and agarose gel electrophoresis of serum lipoproteins was performed in 69 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 40 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PA), 21 patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and 65 healthy blood donors. These lipid parameters were also compared in 21 RA and 40 PA patients during periods of severe disease activity (SA) versus minimal disease activity (MA). RA patients had significantly decreased concentrations of total serum lipids, total serum cholesterol, cholesterol in LDL, and cholesterol in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) compared with healthy blood donors. RA patients with SA had significantly decreased cholesterol in LDL and HDL compared with patients with MA. As the disease activity decreased, RA patients had normalization of almost all serum lipid concentrations. Electrophoresis of serum lipoproteins showed heterogeneous patterns in RA patients. Patients with PA also had some evidence of dyslipoproteinemia. Serum lipids changed with disease activity in PA patients in a manner similar to that in RA patients. These data show that patients with RA and PA have a dyslipoproteinemia that is related to disease activity.