Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Novella-Navarro, Marta; Van Den Rym, Ana; López-Pedrera, Chary; Martínez-Feito, Ana; Nieto-Carvalhal, Beatriz; Reche, Keren; López-Medina, Clementina; Escudero-Contreras, Alejandro; Nozal, Pilar; Miranda-Carús, Maria Eugenia; Monjo, Irene; De Miguel, Eugenio; Balsa, Alejandro; Pérez-De Diego, Rebeca; Plasencia-Rodríguez, Chamaida

doi:10.3390/nu17050820

Open AccessArticle

Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis?

by

Marta Novella-Navarro

^1,2,*,

Ana Van Den Rym

³

,

Chary López-Pedrera

⁴,

Ana Martínez-Feito

⁵,

Beatriz Nieto-Carvalhal

²

,

Keren Reche

⁶,

Clementina López-Medina

⁴

,

Alejandro Escudero-Contreras

⁴

,

Pilar Nozal

⁵

,

Maria Eugenia Miranda-Carús

^1,2,

Irene Monjo

^1,2,

Eugenio De Miguel

^1,2,

Alejandro Balsa

^1,2,

Rebeca Pérez-De Diego

^3,† and

Chamaida Plasencia-Rodríguez

^1,2,†

¹

Rheumatology Department, Hospital Universitario La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain

²

Immuno-Rheumatology Investigation Group, IdiPAZ, Hospital Universitario La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain

³

Laboratory of Immunogenetics of Human Diseases, IdiPAZ, Hospital Universitario La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain

⁴

Rheumatology Department, Hospital Reina Sofía, IMIBIC, University of Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain

⁵

Immunology Department, Hospital Universitario La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain

⁶

Lymphocyte Pathophysiology in Immunodeficiencies Group, La Paz Institute for Health Research (IdiPAZ), 28046 Madrid, Spain

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Nutrients 2025, 17(5), 820; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17050820

Submission received: 4 February 2025 / Revised: 20 February 2025 / Accepted: 24 February 2025 / Published: 27 February 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutritional Problems Related to Rheumatic Disease)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a frequent comorbidity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This condition may lead these patients to have poorer disease control and a worse response to some of the available treatments. Objectives: We aim to analyze the role of body mass index (BMI) in the clinical response to Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis) in patients with RA. We aim to perform an in-depth analysis of the pathophysiology of obesity by assessing serum adipokine levels, their potential influence in disease activity and their changes with treatment. Methods: This study involved 81 patients with RA treated with JAKis from Hospital La Paz and Hospital Reina Sofía. Patients were classified according to their BMI as normal weight and overweight/obesity. The clinical response to treatment was assessed by the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS28) 6 months after the initiation of JAKis. Serum adipokines (leptin and adiponectin) were determined using a commercial immunoassay kit in samples obtained before the initiation of JAKis and after 6 months of treatment. Results: Leptin levels showed a significant positive correlation with BMI at baseline (r = 0.59, p < 0.01) and at 6 months (r = 0.56, p < 0.01) in the whole cohort, but no correlation was found between BMI and adiponectin. No correlation between disease activity and BMI was found in the whole cohort at baseline and at 6 months measured by both the CDAI and DAS28. Fifty patients (61.7%) achieved low disease activity (LDA)/remission at 6 months, regardless their BMI, and no differences in serum adipokine levels were observed at baseline and at 6 months in patients who achieved LDA vs. no-LDA. Conclusions: In this study, we did not find an association between obesity and the extent of LDA in patients treated with JAKis; therefore, this mechanism of action could be suitable for overweight/obese patients with RA.

Keywords: obesity; adipose tissue cytokines; targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; rheumatoid arthritis

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Novella-Navarro, M.; Van Den Rym, A.; López-Pedrera, C.; Martínez-Feito, A.; Nieto-Carvalhal, B.; Reche, K.; López-Medina, C.; Escudero-Contreras, A.; Nozal, P.; Miranda-Carús, M.E.; et al. Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis? Nutrients 2025, 17, 820. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17050820

AMA Style

Novella-Navarro M, Van Den Rym A, López-Pedrera C, Martínez-Feito A, Nieto-Carvalhal B, Reche K, López-Medina C, Escudero-Contreras A, Nozal P, Miranda-Carús ME, et al. Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis? Nutrients. 2025; 17(5):820. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17050820

Chicago/Turabian Style

Novella-Navarro, Marta, Ana Van Den Rym, Chary López-Pedrera, Ana Martínez-Feito, Beatriz Nieto-Carvalhal, Keren Reche, Clementina López-Medina, Alejandro Escudero-Contreras, Pilar Nozal, Maria Eugenia Miranda-Carús, and et al. 2025. "Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis?" Nutrients 17, no. 5: 820. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17050820

APA Style

Novella-Navarro, M., Van Den Rym, A., López-Pedrera, C., Martínez-Feito, A., Nieto-Carvalhal, B., Reche, K., López-Medina, C., Escudero-Contreras, A., Nozal, P., Miranda-Carús, M. E., Monjo, I., De Miguel, E., Balsa, A., Pérez-De Diego, R., & Plasencia-Rodríguez, C. (2025). Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis? Nutrients, 17(5), 820. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17050820

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Do Obesity and Adipose Tissue Cytokines Influence the Response to Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI