The Association Between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Serum Levels of Vitamin D

Objective: To find out the status of vitamin D in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Material and Methods: This comparative study was conducted in Govt Kot Khawaja Saeed Teaching Hospital. Duration of study was from June 2017 to June 2018. A case control study was carried out on 60 patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (age range 25 to 60 years fulfils the criteria of 2010 Rheumatoid arthritis classification. Duration of study was from June 2017 to June 2018. Patients/controls were comprised as group A (30 patients with mild arthritis), group B (30 patients with moderate form of arthritis) and group C (20 age, sex matched healthy controls). Results: Mean age of patients was 36.50 years. Majority of women were house wives with average health status with normal pulse rate and blood pressure. Clinical variables of patients showed the small joint involvement, swelling, tenderness with moderate to severity of disease. It is observed that the level of vitamin D was significantly low in group of patients presented with severe form of arthritis as compared to group of patient who has mild to moderate arthritis. Study also observed that both group of patient has significantly low levels of vitamin D as compared to controls. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and may be linked to severity in RA. It is therefore a need of supplementation of Vitamin D for the pain relief in RApatients.