Review Article

Sarcopenia in Rheumatoid arthritis. A narrative review

Dimitra Moschou¹, Michail Krikelis¹, Christos Georgakopoulos¹, Evangelia Mole¹, Efstathios Chronopoulos², Symeon Tournis², Clio Mavragani³, Konstantinos Makris⁴, Ismene Dontas², Susana Gazi¹

1. Rheumatology Department, KAT General Hospital, Attica, Greece
2. Laboratory for Research of the Musculoskeletal System “Theodoros Garofalidis”, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, KAT General Hospital, Attica, Greece
3. Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attica, Greece
4. Clinical Biochemistry Department, KAT General Hospital, Attica, Greece

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Keywords: Autoimmune disease, Inflammation, Rheumatoid arthritis, Sarcopenia

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Abstract

Sarcopenia was recently identified as an entity in the ICD-10 classification of October 2016. According to the recommendation of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2), sarcopenia is defined as low muscle strength and low muscle mass, while physical performance is used to categorize the severity of sarcopenia. In recent years, sarcopenia has become increasingly common in younger patients with autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Due to the chronic inflammation caused by RA, patients have reduced physical activity, immobility, stiffness, and joint destruction and all of that lead to the loss of muscle mass, muscle strength, disability and significantly lowering the patients’ quality of life. This article is a narrative review about sarcopenia in RA, with a special focus in its pathogenesis and management.

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