| dc.description.abstract | Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that affects multiple
synovial joints leading to bone and cartilage destruction. RA is associated with
many co-morbidities. Sub-clinical renal dysfunction is one such complication
that remains silent during the disease course. Therefore, the study was aimed to
investigate the prevalence of microalbuminuria in RA patients and to determine
the correlation of microalbuminuria with ESR and CRP which are considered
biomarkers of RA. Fifty confirmed RA patients according to ACR EULAR criteria
including both positives and negatives with or without deformities were
selected from the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Clinic of NHSL within 2
months period. The subjects did not have any clinical history of kidney diseases,
diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Socio-demographic data, medical and drug
history were collected through an interviewer-based questionnaire while urine
microalbumin, ACR, ESR, CRP investigations were carried out. Collected data
were analysed statistically using SPSS version 23. The prevalence of
microalbuminuria in the selected study population was 40%. Significant
correlations were reported between microalbumin and CRP; ACR and CRP
(P<0.01) among elderly RA patients. Furthermore, there was a significant
difference between the mean microalbumin and ACR values of RF positive and
RF negative groups of the study population(P<0.05). A significant correlation
between ACR and disease duration (P<0.05) was also observed. Therefore, it can
be concluded that microalbuminuria and ACR together can be used as markers
to detect early renal dysfunction related to RA and thus, morbidity and mortality
among RA patients can be minimized | en_US |
