Osteosarcopenia

Our study is a cross-sectional study, and its aim is to compare and analyze the prevalence of sarcopenia and osteoporosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a control group and to reveal the impact of sarcopenia on osteoporosis, fall risk, and fracture risk. This prospective cross-sectional study will include 100 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 100 healthy controls, matched for age and sex. Patients will be consecutively and meticulously enrolled based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. A detailed medical history and examination will be performed on the patients, and their clinical and sociodemographic characteristics will be recorded. Blood tests for RA (RF, Anti-Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide (anti-CCP), CRP, ESR) and disease activity levels (DAS28) will be recorded. The prevalence of osteosarcopenia will be assessed in both the RA and healthy control groups.These groups will be evaluated using various scales and tests (including power, performance tests) including musculoskeletal ultrasonographic measurements and clinical functional assessment tests. he sarcopenic group will be categorized based on the level of sarcopenia, according to the new ISarcoPRM criteria (non-sarcopenic, dynapenic, sarcopenic, and severe sarcopenic). Osteosarcopenia will be evaluated for both groups, and the collected data will be analyzed with primary and secondary outcomes. The analysis will explore the potential relationships between rheumatoid inflammation, sarcopenia, and osteoporosis.

Axial spondyloarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the spine, sacroiliac joints, entheses, and sometimes peripheral joints with a close link to HLAB27. Typical features include inflammatory back pain, limited spinal mobility, and sacroiliitis. The term axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) includes both Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) where sacroiliitis is diagnosed by X-rays, and non-radiographic AxSpA, where sacroiliitis is diagnosed via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Osteoporosis is common in AS patients, and sarcopenia may also develop due to inflammation and immobilization. Osteosarcopenia, the co-occurrence of osteoporosis and sarcopenia, might have an impact on morbidity and mortality of AxSpA patients. This cross-sectional study aims to determine the frequency of osteosarcopenia in AxSpA patients and to investigate its relationship with various demographic and clinical factors. A control group with similar age and gender distribution will be recruited to evaluate osteosarcopenia. Our hypothesis is that osteosarcopenia will be more frequent in the AxSpA group compared to the control group. The study will also identify the demographic and clinical factors associated with osteosarcopenia in AxSpa.