Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Philipps-University Marburg, Munich, Germany.
Scand J Rheumatol. 2011 May;40(3):169-77. doi: 10.3109/03009742.2010.517547. Epub 2010 Nov 16.
To evaluate the gustatory and olfactory functions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to sex- and age-matched healthy subjects and to investigate a potential relationship between disease activity [using the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28)] and chemosensory capacity. Furthermore, to dissect possible impacts of standard anti-inflammatory medications on the gustatory and olfactory functions.
Patients with established RA underwent standardized assessment of their gustatory and olfactory functions. The patients were also examined for their disease activity, had their specific blood-test results analysed, and were asked to answer a standardized questionnaire about their quality of life, the negative effects of their disease, and about comorbidities.
A total of 101 RA patients (75 women, 26 men, mean age: 57.9 ± 13.8 and 64.2 ± 10.9 years, respectively) were analysed. In relation to age- and sex-related subjects, both female and male RA patients had a significantly decreased taste score (p < 0.001) and also a significantly decreased olfactory score (p < 0.05), indicating that a substantial number of patients suffer from hypogeusia or hyposmia. This abnormality did not correlate with disease activity, the duration of the disease, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) or tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor use, and the loss of the chemosensory functions, together indicating that hypogeusia and hyposmia are frequent clinical manifestations in RA patients independent of the inflammatory activity of their disease.
The results indicate that there is a significant decrease in the olfactory and gustatory function in RA patients compared to those of healthy controls, which can seriously and substantially affect the quality of the patients' life.
评估类风湿关节炎（RA）患者的味觉和嗅觉功能与性别和年龄匹配的健康受试者相比，并研究疾病活动度[使用 28 关节疾病活动评分（DAS28）]与化学感觉能力之间的潜在关系。此外，探讨标准抗炎药物对味觉和嗅觉功能的可能影响。
已确诊的 RA 患者接受了味觉和嗅觉功能的标准化评估。还对患者的疾病活动度进行了检查，分析了他们的特定血液检测结果，并要求他们回答关于生活质量、疾病负面影响以及合并症的标准化问卷。
共分析了 101 例 RA 患者（75 名女性，26 名男性，平均年龄分别为 57.9 ± 13.8 岁和 64.2 ± 10.9 岁）。与年龄和性别相关的受试者相比，女性和男性 RA 患者的味觉评分均显著降低（p < 0.001），嗅觉评分也显著降低（p < 0.05），这表明相当多的患者患有味觉减退或嗅觉减退。这种异常与疾病活动度、疾病持续时间、疾病修饰抗风湿药物（DMARD）或肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）抑制剂的使用以及化学感觉功能的丧失无关，这表明味觉减退和嗅觉减退是 RA 患者常见的临床表现，与疾病的炎症活动无关。
结果表明，RA 患者的嗅觉和味觉功能明显下降，与健康对照组相比，这可能严重且实质性地影响患者的生活质量。
