Clinical and Pathogenetic Relationships of the Chronic Pancreatitis and Osteoarthritis Combined Course Parameters

Moderate-grade inflammation plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of comorbid conditions such as chronic pancreatitis (CP) and osteoarthritis (OA) and causes changes of other clinical and pathogenic parameters. The objective: to investigate the relationships between clinical and pathogenetic parameters, including pain and physical impairment (assessed by the WOMAC, Lequesne, and VAS scores, fecal elastase-1 level, and antioxidant concentrations (retinol and tocopherol)), and their impact on C-reactive protein (CRP) level in patients with comorbid CP and OA. Materials and methods. A predictor model that included the following variables was developed: the Lequesne Algofunctional Index, VAS joint pain score, fecal elastase-1 level, PEI-Q score, and tocopherol level. Results. The developed model demonstrated a high correspondence with the R-squared value, indicating that a significant proportion of CRP variability is explained by the included variables. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) allowed to create an analytical model of relationships of significant clinical and pathogenetic parameters of CP and AO. Significance testing indicated that the Lequesne Algofunctional Index, VAS joint pain score, fecal elastase-1 level, PEI-Q score, and tocopherol level have a significant effect on CRP level, with different degrees of statistical significance. Conclusions. The results of the study indicate the need to take into account the inflammatory process of moderate intensity when developing a treatment strategy for OA and CP. They also allow us to identify factors which are associated with an increased CRP level in this population of patients, based on a linear regression model and analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the relationships between clinical and pathogenetic parameters. The findings emphasize the importance of individualized therapeutic approaches to reduce the impact of chronic inflammation.