High Levels of Leptin and Adipsin Are Associated with Clinical Activity in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients with Overweight and Periodontal Infection

Adipokines are associated with the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and are potential biomarkers of disease activity, periodontitis, and obesity. The aim of this was to establish the association between adipokine profile, RA disease activity, body mass index, and periodontal infection. This study evaluated 51 patients with early-RA and 51 controls including serum rheumatological markers, adipokine levels, detection of Porphyromonas gingivalis and serum anti-Porphyromonas gingivalis antibodies, clinical and periodontal measurements. Statistical analyses were run with SPSS(R) V26, with a logistic regression model to confirm associations. The results show high levels of leptin were more frequent in patients (p = 0.001) who simultaneously showed a higher frequency of Porphyromonas gingivalis (p = 0.004). Patients with concomitant presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis, high clinical activity score, and overweight were correlated with high levels of leptin (OR, 7.20; 95% CI, 2.68-19.33; p = 0.0001) and adipsin (OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.00-7.28; p = 0.005). The conclusion is that high levels of leptin and adipsin are associated with greater clinical activity in early-RA patients with overweight and periodontal infection, whereby overweight and Porphyromonas gingivalis may enhance RA activity. This may represent a pathological mechanism between these conditions, where adipokines seem to have a key role.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the association between adipokine profile and disease activity, body mass index, and periodontal infection in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The results showed that high levels of leptin were associated with greater clinical activity in RA patients who were overweight and had periodontal infection. This suggests a potential pathological mechanism involving adipokines in the relationship between RA, overweight, and periodontal infection.