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Review
. 2023 May 31:14:1190607.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1190607. eCollection 2023.

Lipid metabolism and rheumatoid arthritis

Qian Lei  1   2 , Jie Yang  1 , Li Li  1 , Ning Zhao  1 , Cheng Lu  1 , Aiping Lu  2   3   4 , Xiaojuan He  1
Affiliations
Review

Lipid metabolism and rheumatoid arthritis

Qian Lei et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

As a chronic progressive autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by mainly damaging the synovium of peripheral joints and causing joint destruction and early disability. RA is also associated with a high incidence rate and mortality of cardiovascular disease. Recently, the relationship between lipid metabolism and RA has gradually attracted attention. Plasma lipid changes in RA patients are often detected in clinical tests, the systemic inflammatory status and drug treatment of RA patients can interact with the metabolic level of the body. With the development of lipid metabolomics, the changes of lipid small molecules and potential metabolic pathways have been gradually discovered, which makes the lipid metabolism of RA patients or the systemic changes of lipid metabolism after treatment more and more comprehensive. This article reviews the lipid level of RA patients, as well as the relationship between inflammation, joint destruction, cardiovascular disease, and lipid level. In addition, this review describes the effect of anti-rheumatic drugs or dietary intervention on the lipid profile of RA patients to better understand RA.

Keywords: inflammation; joint destruction; lipid metabolism; rheumatoid arthritis; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lipid metabolism and classification. (A) The source and destination of triglyceride and cholesterol. Triglyceride (TG): The fat in the food is digested to form chylomicron (8) in the small intestine. TG is carried by CM through blood circulation to adipose tissue for storage. A part of TG in adipose tissue is decomposed into glycerol and FAs, which are transported to the liver. The liver reconstitutes them into TG for storage and can also transport blood in the form of VLDL. Cholesterol (CHOL): absorbed by food, and synthesized by the liver or small intestine; It is carried by LDL and transported to the whole body to synthesize lipid hormones and form cell membranes. The excess CHOL in the tissue is absorbed by HDL, transported to the liver, and then discharged from the body. (B) Classification of lipids and FAs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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