Association of Mediterranean diet pattern with disease activity in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study on Iranian patients.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease that causes joint erosion, as well as damage to extra-articular organs. The aim of this study was the investigation of the association between the Mediterranean diet quality index with disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study 184 females with rheumatoid arthritis were studied in Kermanshah, Iran. The American College of Rheumatology's 2010 criteria were used to diagnose RA. The biochemical tests including erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid facto, anti-nuclear antibody titration, antibodies against cyclic citrulline peptide, disease activity score 28 and the food frequency questionnaire was used to assess rheumatoid arthritis activity and the Mediterranean diet quality index, respectively. To compare the dietary intakes of participants across tertiles of Mediterranean diet score, we used Analysis of Variance. Multinomial logistic regression with three adjusted models was used to investigate the association between Mediterranean diet score with disease activity.

RESULTS: 184 eligible patients with rheumatoid arthritis participated in this study. The mean age and duration of disease, body mass index, waist circumference and percent body fat did not differ significantly among the tertiles of the Mediterranean diet score (P-value>0.05). Participants in the highest tertile of Mediterranean diet score had significantly greater intakes of fruits, vegetables, fish, legume, nuts and had lowest intake of grains (refrain grain) and red and process meats to white meat ratio (P-value<0.05). There was no significant difference in terms of variables related to disease activity among the tertiles of the Mediterranean score (P-value>0.05). In multi-adjusted models, the odds ratio of Mediterranean diet scores no significant different in the third as compared to the first tertile of Mediterranean diet score (P-value>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Based on our findings there is no association between the Mediterranean diet score and disease activity of people with rheumatoid arthritis.