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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Rheumatology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1421497

Association between the Inflammatory Burden Index and rheumatoid arthritis and its all-cause mortality: Data from NHANES 1999-2018

Provisionally accepted
Jiali Zhai Jiali Zhai 1Bo Yuan Bo Yuan 2Tiebing Liu Tiebing Liu 3Linfei Mo Linfei Mo 4Yajie Xie Yajie Xie 1Yi Zhao Yi Zhao 5Shuai Cao Shuai Cao 3*Liesu Meng Liesu Meng 1,6*
  • 1 Institute of Translational Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, China
  • 2 Department of Orthopedics, Civil Aviation General Hospital, Beijing, China
  • 3 Civil Aviation General Hospital, Beijing, China
  • 4 Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
  • 5 West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 6 Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background and Aims: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent chronic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation. The Inflammatory Burden Index (IBI) is a newly proposed comprehensive inflammation index used to assess systemic inflammation. The relationship between IBI and RA, as well as its all-cause mortality, remains unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the correlation between IBI and RA and to analyze the association between IBI and all-cause mortality in RA.The study comprehensively analyzes adult data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning 1999 to 2018. The participants' IBI was calculated using the formula IBI = CRP * neutrophils/lymphocytes. Three models were constructed to investigate the relationship between IBI and the prevalence of RA. Nonlinear relationships were determined using restricted cubic spline curves. Stratified analyses and interaction tests were used to explore the relationship between RA and IBI in different subgroups. The same data analyses were applied to investigate the association between IBI and RA all-cause mortality.The data analyses revealed a stable positive and nonlinear correlation between IBI and the risk of RA, as well as a positive, nonlinear, J-shaped association between IBI and RA all-cause mortality. The correlation and association were consistent across most subgroups, and multiple covariates had no effect on the results. No significant effect of multiple covariates on the association was found through interaction tests. Conclusions: Our study has demonstrated a positive correlation between the prevalence of RA and all-cause mortality with the IBI index. This suggests that lower levels of inflammation in the body are associated with a reduced risk of RA prevalence and all-cause mortality. Further prospective studies are required to explore the mechanisms involved.

    Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory burden index, All-cause mortality, national Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), non-linear

    Received: 26 Apr 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhai, Yuan, Liu, Mo, Xie, Zhao, Cao and Meng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Shuai Cao, Civil Aviation General Hospital, Beijing, 100012, China
    Liesu Meng, Institute of Translational Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.