Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that may be associated with early renal involvement even before overt chronic kidney disease develops. Subclinical renal dysfunction refers to early impairment of renal function that is not detected by conventional serum creatinine alone.
This hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study will include two groups: patients with rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria, and age- and sex-matched apparently healthy controls. All participants will undergo clinical assessment, disease activity evaluation using DAS28, laboratory investigations including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), and renal ultrasonography. The study will determine the prevalence of subclinical renal dysfunction and assess its association with disease activity, inflammatory markers, serological markers, disease duration, and treatment-related factors.
