{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T22:02:16Z","timestamp":1792015336073,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]],"date-time":"2025-04-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745366400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Physiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Skeletal muscle disease in patients with early-stage rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is understudied. The objective of this study was to identify whether patients with early RA (symptoms &amp;lt;6 months) have impaired skeletal muscle health.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Participants with early RA (n = 10) and age-, sex-, and BMI-matched healthy controls (n = 10) underwent cross-sectional clinical, physiological, and muscle biomechanical property assessments. Upper and lower extremity muscles underwent <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic> passive biomechanical property\u2014tone, stiffness, and elasticity\u2014assessments via myotonometry (MyotonPro\u00ae). <jats:italic>In vitro<\/jats:italic> muscle force production and stiffness were assessed using 3D bioengineered myobundles derived from myoblasts obtained from vastus lateralis muscle biopsies.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Despite similar muscle mass and self-reported physical activity behaviors for patients with early RA and healthy controls, patients with early RA had poorer self-reported physical function, self-reported physical health, and right-hand grip strength (p &amp;lt; 0.05 for all). Early RA muscle tone and stiffness were lower than in controls (p &amp;lt; 0.05) and had an inverse association with prednisone use (rho = \u22120.72, p = 0.02). While 3D bioengineered myobundle force production and passive stiffness were similar to controls, early RA myobundle stiffness correlated with swollen joint count (rho = \u22120.67, p = 0.04).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this exploratory study, patients with early RA exhibited multiple skeletal muscle deficits across clinical, physiologic, and biomechanical domains compared to controls with similar muscle mass and physical activity. <jats:italic>In vivo<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> skeletal muscle biomechanical assessments may be useful to identify these deficits to better understand and improve RA muscle health.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2025.1575689","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]],"date-time":"2025-04-23T04:10:33Z","timestamp":1745381433000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Alterations in skeletal muscle health and biomechanical properties in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: an exploratory cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Brian J.","family":"Andonian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hailee","family":"Patel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingzhi","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alyssa M.","family":"Sudnick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johanna L.","family":"Johnson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William E.","family":"Kraus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George A.","family":"Truskey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kim M.","family":"Huffman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1016\/j.archger.2015.09.011","article-title":"Measurement of ageing effects on muscle tone and mechanical properties of rectus femoris and biceps brachii in healthy males and females using a novel hand-held myometric device","volume":"62","author":"Agyapong-Badu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Arch. 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