Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with an increased cardiovascular events. These may be related to insulin resistance (IR). We evaluated status of IR and analyzed the relationship between IR and clinical and laboratory characteristics in patients with RA. Methods: We examined 52 RA patients (43 females) and 52 age and sex matched healthy controls. We measured Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) IR, calculated according to fasting serum glucose and insulin. Results: In patients, age was 50.8±10.2 years old, disease duration was 42.1±30.9 months. In controls, HOMA IR was 0.62±0.30 and in patients, it was 1.28±0.50. This difference was highly significant (p＜0.001). Patients with early RA (disease duration is less than 36 months) were 28, and established RA (more than 36 months) were 24. HOMA IR was significantly higher in patients with established RA (1.42±0.45) than those with early RA (1.16±0.45) (p=0.03), and significantly correlated with disease duration (r=0.36, p=0.01), BMI (r=0.36, p＜0.001), total cumulative prednisolon dose (r=0.34, p=0.01). Disease duration and BMI were independent predictors for HOMA IR (p＜0.01, p=0.03). Conclusion: In patients with RA, IR measured by HOMA IR was more significantly increased than that of healthy control and significantly correlated with disease duration, BMI, and total cumulative prednisolon dose; however, the determinants of HOMA IR in RA patients were disease duration and BMI.

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Insulin resistance, Homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance