DETERMINATION OF EARLY JOINT STRUCTURE REMODELING IN VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Abstract

In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a representative of autoimmune diseases, a statistically
significant superiority of patients with osteopenia symptoms was noted. Because of the chronic
immune-inflammatory process underlying RA, long-term use of glucocorticoids poses a risk of
bone remodeling. In this case, the biochemical processes of bone resorption, as well as the
formation of articular destruction on the basis of systemic inflammation, are stimulated. Therefore,
overall osteoporosis in RA is now considered an indicator of the severity of the systemic
inflammatory process underlying the disease. In addition, vitamin D deficiency has also been
reported to affect immunological processes involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and
systemic inflammation.