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. 2023 Jun 25:16:11786388231176169.
doi: 10.1177/11786388231176169. eCollection 2023.

Does Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Intake Associate With Bone Mineral Density and Limb Structural Changes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Annika Valner  1   2 , Raili Müller  1   2 , Mart Kull  3 , Kaja Põlluste  1 , Margus Lember  1   2 , Riina Kallikorm  1   2
Affiliations

Does Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Intake Associate With Bone Mineral Density and Limb Structural Changes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Annika Valner et al. Nutr Metab Insights. .

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease that can result in bone erosion, lean mass lowering, and increase of fat mass without changes in body weight. The dietary consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) has been assessed in many studies due to their potential anti-inflammatory effect.

Aim: The aim of this research was to identify if dietary intake of PUFAs associates with bone mineral density (BMD) and limb structural changes in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) compared to a population-based control group. The study was conducted because previous results have been insufficient.

Methods: The study group consisted of 83 ERA patients and 321 control subjects. A dual-energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DXA) machine was used to measure hip, lumbar spine, and radius BMD, as well as arm and leg fat, lean, and bone mass. Dietary habits and inflammatory markers were assessed to evaluate the effects to BMD and limb structural changes.

Results: In ERA subjects, higher dietary consumption of PUFAs was associated with a decrease in arm fat mass (b -28.17, P = .02) and possibly with higher lumbar BMD (b 0.008, P = .058). Limb bone and lean mass changes were not associated with dietary intake of PUFAs.

Conclusion: Balanced nutrition is essential. Consuming PUFAs could be beneficial in ERA preventing structural changes to hands, but additional research is needed.

Keywords: Bone mineral density; arm fat mass; early rheumatoid arthritis; inflammation; polyunsaturated fatty acids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study groups flow diagram. Abbreviation: ERA, early rheumatoid arthritis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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