Tada M, et al. - In a prospective, observational study (CHIKARA study) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, experts gauged the associations between sarcopenia and disease activity, physical function, laboratory data, and body composition at baseline. In patients with RA whose disease activity was mild, the prevalence of sarcopenia was 28%. Findings suggested an independent association of low BMI, high-fat mass and high MMP3 with sarcopenia. A useful marker for sarcopenia in patients with RA could be MMP3. They noted an increase of 3.1-fold compared with < 90.7 ng/mL in the odds ratio for sarcopenia when MMP3 was ≥ 90.7 ng/mL.