Аннотация
AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the association of the thickness of the intima-media complex with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the degree of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 101 patients with RA. All patients underwent a biochemical examination, the presence of MetS was determined, and the carotid thickness of the intima-media was determined. Statistical processing was performed using SPSS for Windows, version 18.0. RESULTS: Among 101 patients with RA, 41 (40.5%) had MetS. The frequency of detecting an increased value of the intima-media complex thickness was significantly higher in the group with MetS (n = 31 [75.6%]) than in the group without MetS (n = 21 [35.0%] p ≤ 0.0001). In the group of patients with MetS, the median carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was 1.2 mm, while this indicator in the group without MetS was 0.78 mm (U = 727, p = 0.001). In the regression model, MetS (B = 1.05; p = 0.027) and DAS28-ESR (B = 0.506; p = 0.021) were influenced by CIMT. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study show the effect of MetS and RA activity on the increase of intima-media thickness.