ENVIRONMENTAL, METABOLIC, AND ENDOTHELIAL DETERMINANTS OF DISEASE ACTIVITY IN POST-COVID INFLAMMATORY AND DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISORDERS

Rheumatic diseases represent a multifactorial group of conditions in which genetic predisposition, immune dysregulation, endothelial dysfunction, and environmental exposures interact to determine disease onset and progression. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified these interactions by inducing persistent systemic inflammation, vascular injury, and metabolic imbalance. Post-COVID-19 conditions have been associated with worsening clinical outcomes in ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis, osteoarthritis, allergic vasculitis, and systemic sclerosis, as well as in patients with comorbid ischemic heart disease.