Publications

Obesity is increasingly becoming a public health concern as its prevalence continues to grow in the United States and Western nations. Obesity has been shown to be an inflammatory condition that impacts multiple tissues and systems, including the immune system possibly linking to rheumatic diseases. In this review, Iannone et al overview the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of PsA and/or RA patients with comorbid obesity.Large cohort and prospective studies in Italy, the US, and the UK have shown a positive correlation between BMI and PsA diagnosis. Obesity is also correlated with RA, though the association varies based upon gender, autoimmunity and smoking status. Clinical outcomes for both PsA and RA are impacted by BMI. PsA patients who lost weight in addition to taking TNF inhibitors had better clinical responses to therapy than those who maintained their weight. Although obese RA patients have decreased response to TNF blocking therapies, they also have milder bone damage progression. Also, in two separate studies (Iannone et al 2014 and Nüßlein et al 2014) found that obese patients did not differ in their response to ABA compared to ‘overweight’ or ‘normal-weight’ individuals.Overall, obesity is a risk factor for developing RA and PsA, especially in young women with evidence that these patients have poor response to anti-TNF drugs.