Eosinophilia in rheumatoid arthritis patients and its relation to disease activity: A single center experience from Kashmir, India

• Main Authors: Fayaz Sofi, Ashaq Parrey, Mushtaq Ahmad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-04-01
• Series: Egyptian Rheumatologist
• Subjects: Eosinophilia; Rheumatoid arthritis; DAS28
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110116416300825

Introduction: Eosinophilia is reported in several rheumatic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and considered an indicator of high disease activity and a factor of poor prognosis. Aim of the work: To detect the frequency of eosinophilia in a cohort of RA patients from Kashmir, India and to study its relation to disease activity. Patients and methods: This study was conducted on 134 RA patients attending the Rheumatology outpatient clinic, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Medical Institute. Patients with known cause associated with eosinophilia such as drug reaction, allergies or helminthic infection were excluded. The eosinophilic count was recorded and the disease activity score (DAS-28) was calculated. Results: The patients had a mean age of 36.6 ± 11.5 years and disease duration of 6.8 ± 5.3 years. They were 103(76.9%) females and 31(23.1%) males (F:M 3.32:1). All the patients were rheumatoid factor positive. The mean DAS28 was 4.53 ± 0.96 (range: 2.9–7.1). 42(31.3%) had high disease activity. The mean eosinophilic count was 4.53 ± 3.12% (range 1.1–16.4%) and eosinophilia (>6%) was found in 29(21.6%) patients with a mean count of 9.4 ± 2.6% (range 6.3–16.4%). The rest of the 105 patients had normal eosinophilic count. The mean eosinophil count was lower in RA patients with high disease activity (4.14 ± 2.62%). Those RA patients with eosinophilia had a mean DAS28 of 4.4 ± 0.74. A non-significant negative correlation was present between the eosinophilic count and the DAS28 (r = −0.038, p = 0.66). None of the eosinophilic patients had any associated pneumonia. Conclusion: Eosinophilia is quite common in RA patients but does not have any relation with disease activity.