Endothelial dysfunction in patients with ankylosing spondylitis after covid-19

Abstract

Study of endothelial dysfunction against the background of systemic inflammation in patients with an- kylosing spondylitis who have had COVID-19. Material and methods: The study included 80 patients diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis according to the modified New York criteria and EULAR. All patients were divided into 2 groups: 1st group - 40 patients with ankylosing spondylitis without a post-Covid period, 2nd - 40 patients with ankylosing spon- dylitis and a post-COVID period. The control group consist- ed of 40 healthy people with no history of acute or chronic diseases. Results: In patients with ankylosing spondylitis, survivors of COVID-19 and healthy people, there was no significant correlation between gender, age, serum lipids, smoking habit, C-reactive protein level and disease activity, although for some of of these variables, this may have oc- curred due to the small number of subjects included in the study. Conclusions: The lack of correlation between FMD indicators and disease activity should be confirmed by fur- ther studies with a larger number of subjects.