Serum vitamin D status inversely associates with a prevalence of severe sarcopenia among female patients with rheumatoid arthritis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 20485
• Main Authors: Minamino, Hiroto, Katsushima, Masao, Torii, Mie, Yamamoto, Wataru, Fujita, Yoshihito, Ikeda, Kaori, Okamura, Emi, Murakami, Kosaku, Watanabe, Ryu, Murata, Koichi, Ito, Hiromu, Tanaka, Masao, Arai, Hidenori, Matsuda, Shuichi, Morinobu, Akio, Inagaki, Nobuya, Hashimoto, Motomu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14-10-2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; 692/4023; 692/499; Age; Aged; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - epidemiology; Autoimmune diseases; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dietary supplements; Female; Gait; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Japan; Middle Aged; Mortality risk; multidisciplinary; Musculoskeletal system; Regression analysis; Rheumatoid arthritis; Sarcopenia; Sarcopenia - blood; Sarcopenia - epidemiology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Skeletal muscle; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Japan
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99894-6

Sarcopenia is an age-related disease with an increased risk of mortality. It is emerging that low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] affects the sarcopenic state in general, but in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), these associations are not understood although the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency is high in RA. We conducted a cross-sectional study of older female outpatients from our cohort (KURAMA) database. We measured skeletal muscle mass, handgrip strength, and gait-speed to diagnose severe sarcopenia. The serum 25(OH)D concentration was measured using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. A total of 156 female patients with RA (sarcopenia:44.9%, severe sarcopenia: 29.5%, and without sarcopenia: 25.6%) were enrolled. Classification of vitamin D status at a cutoff point of median 25(OH)D concentration revealed that low 25(OH)D status was associated with a high prevalence of severe sarcopenia and with low measured values of muscle mass, handgrip, and gait speed. Furthermore, multivariable logistic regression analysis identified that low 25(OH)D status was associated with a high prevalence of severe sarcopenia (OR 6.00; 95% CI 1.99–18.08).The same association was observed when the cut-off value was set at 20 ng/ml. In components of sarcopenia, both low physical performance and muscle mass were associated with low 25(OH)D status. In conclusion, vitamin D status was inversely associated with severe sarcopenia, low physical performance, and low skeletal muscle mass. Modification of vitamin D status including vitamin D supplementation should be investigated as a therapeutic strategy for sarcopenic patients with RA.