Correlation between receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) with cartilage degradation in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Aim: to analyze the correlation between Receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand (RANKL), Osteoprotegrin (OPG) serum level with cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) serum level as a marker of cartilage degradation in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted on the subjects who came to the outpatient clinic of rheumatology in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. Patients were diagnosed based on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1987 revised criteria. All numerical data, both primary data and data transformation were not normally distributed, so we did bivariate analysis with Spearman correlation test.

Results: we collected the data of 60 RA patients with majority of the subject had active disease activity (78.3%). Methotrexate was the most widely disease modifying anti-rheumatoid drug (DMARD) used, either as a single drug (51.7%) or in combination with another DMARD (25.1%). Bivariate analysis was revealed that RANKL, OPG, and OPG/RANKL serum level have no significantly correlation with COMP serum level (p=0.52; p=0.25; p=0.2, respectively).

Conclusion: RANKL and OPG serum level, had no correlation with cartilage degradation in rheumatoid arthritis patients.