HP and metabolic syndrome: Zonulin, a marker of mucosal permeability, was more frequently elevated in RA at T0 (>38 ng/mL: RA n = 9; MetS n = 3) and significantly declined only in RA (meanT0 = 41.6 ng/mL; meanT2 = 38.6 ng/mL; p < 0.05) but not MetS (meanT0 = 36.2 ng/mL; meanT2 = 38.0 ng/mL).