Two new inflammatory markers associated with disease activity score-28 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Albumin to fibrinogen ratio and C-reactive protein to albumin ratio.

BACKGROUND

The albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) have emerged as useful biomarkers to predict systemic inflammation. The aim here is to investigate the relation between AFR/CAR and Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS 28) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODS

This retrospective study included 160 patients with RA and 159 healthy controls. We divided the RA patients into two groups according to the DAS 28-ESR score. Group 1 included 40 patients with a score of lower than 2.6 (patients in remission) and Group 2 included 120 patients with a score of 2.6 or higher (patients with active disease). The correlations between AFR, CAR and the disease activity were analyzed.

RESULTS

For RA patients, the AFR was lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001). Patients in group 2 had higher CAR than those in group 1 (P < 0.001). The AFR was lower in group 2 than that in group 1. A positively correlation was observed between DAS 28-ESR score and CAR (r = 0.645, P < 0.001), while the correlation between DAS 28-ESR and AFR (r = -0.836, P < 0.001) was negative. AFR was related with decreased risk of RA disease activity (EXP (B) = 0.33, 95% CI (0.21-0.53), P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

AFR and CAR are two novel inflammatory markers for monitoring disease activity in patients with RA.