The change of blood lipids in rheumatoid arthritis and its clinical significance

Objective: To observe the changes and the clinical significances of blood lipids in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in active phase. Methods: Fifty-six patients with RA (30 cases of active type,26 non-active) and 30 healthy controls were randomly chosen. Plasma lipids,erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),C reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor (RF) were studied. All data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level in active RA group was significantly decreased as compared with normal control group (P < 0.01); there was no difference in HDL-C level between non-active RA group and normal control group (P > 0.05); however, levels of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol had no significant differences among these three groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The levels of plasma lipids in patient with RA are abnormal,which is related to inflammation activity.