Serum irisin concentrations and osteoporotic vertebral fractures in women with rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study

Irisin stimulates osteoblast differentiation increasing bone mass a decreasing in irisin levels might contribute to osteoporotic fractures in inflammatory diseases. To date, there is controverted whether irisin levels are associated with osteoporotic fractures in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, we evaluate the association of serum irisin with osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures (VFs) in women with RA. A total of 148 women with RA was included in the study. Clinical characteristics and risk factors of VFs was evaluated. For measurement of bone mineral density we included the assessment of lumbar spine (AP L1-L4) and Femoral Neck by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). VFs were evaluated by lateral vertebral assessment (LVA) of the dorsal and lumbar regions using X-ray and digital vertebral morphometry by DXA, using the Genant scale. Serum irisin levels were measured by ELISA. A reference group of 97 women with non-rheumatic diseases were included to compare irisin levels. RA patients had a median age of 59 years and 41% had osteoporosis. Seventy three (49%) had VFs. Lower irisin levels were observed in RA patients compared to controls (94 ± 74 vs 135 ± 103, P < .001). Irisin concentrations were lower in RA + VFs than RA non-VFs (74 ± 42 vs 113 ± 92 ng/mL, P = .001). In the multivariable logistic regression analysis the low 50 percentile irisin levels < 73 ng/mL (OR:3.1, 95% CI:1.55–6.2, P = .001), and disease duration of RA (OR:1.04, 95% CI:1.001–1.08, P = .04) were associated with an increase in the risk of VFs. A decrease of irisin levels is associated to VFs in RA. These results are valuable to consider that RA patients with low levels of irisin are in a potential risk of VFs.