[Anemic syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis: Diagnostic approaches and treatment opportunities]

Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) is a leading cause of anemic syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Enhanced hepcidin production mainly stimulated by excess interleukin-6 levels is a key pathodgentic component of ACD (frequently known as anemia of inflammation) by causing the degradation of the transmembrane protein ferroportin, hepcidin impairs iron metabolism. On the basis of the material of recent publications the review gives present-day views on the pathodgenesis of ACD in RA, approaches to the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of ACD, especially in its concomitance with iron-deficiency anemia, as well as approaches to therapy for the type of anemic syndrome with the complex mechanism for its development.