Divergence of Cardiovascular Biomarkers of Lipids and Subclinical Myocardial Injury Among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients With Increased Inflammation

Anti-apolipoprotein A-1 IgG, incident cardiovascular events, and lipid paradox in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective

To validate the prognostic accuracy of anti-apolipoprotein A-1 (AAA1) IgG for incident major adverse cardiovascular (CV) events (MACE) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and study their associations with the lipid paradox at a multicentric scale.

Method

Baseline AAA1 IgG, lipid profile, atherogenic indexes, and cardiac biomarkers were measured on the serum of 1,472 patients with RA included in the prospective Swiss Clinical Quality Management registry with a median follow-up duration of 4.4 years. MACE was the primary endpoint defined as CV death, incident fatal or non-fatal stroke, or myocardial infarction (MI), while elective coronary revascularization (ECR) was the secondary endpoint. Discriminant accuracy and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were respectively assessed using C-statistics and Poisson regression models.

Results

During follow-up, 2.4% (35/1,472) of patients had a MACE, consisting of 6 CV deaths, 11 MIs, and 18 strokes; ECR occurred in 2.1% (31/1,472) of patients. C-statistics indicated that AAA1 had a significant discriminant accuracy for incident MACE [C-statistics: 0.60, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.57-0.98, p = 0.03], mostly driven by CV deaths (C-statistics: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.57-0.98, p = 0.01). IRR indicated that each unit of AAA1 IgG increase was associated with a fivefold incident CV death rate, independent of models' adjustments. At the predefined and validated cut-off, AAA1 displayed negative predictive values above 97% for MACE. AAA1 inversely correlated with total and HDL cholesterol.

Conclusions

AAA1 independently predicts CV deaths, and marginally MACE in RA. Further investigations are requested to ascertain whether AAA1 could enhance CV risk stratification by identifying patients with RA at low CV risk.

Interplay Between Systemic Inflammation, Myocardial Injury, and Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results From the LiiRA Study

BACKGROUND

Coronary microvascular dysfunction as measured by myocardial flow reserve (MFR) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective of this study was to determine the association between reducing inflammation with MFR and other measures of cardiovascular risk.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Patients with RA with active disease about to initiate a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor were enrolled (NCT02714881). All subjects underwent a cardiac perfusion positron emission tomography scan to quantify MFR at baseline before tumor necrosis factor inhibitor initiation, and after tumor necrosis factor inhibitor initiation at 24 weeks. MFR <2.5 in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease was defined as coronary microvascular dysfunction. Blood samples at baseline and 24 weeks were measured for inflammatory markers (eg, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], interleukin-1b, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T [hs-cTnT]). The primary outcome was mean MFR before and after tumor necrosis factor inhibitor initiation, with Δhs-cTnT as the secondary outcome. Secondary and exploratory analyses included the correlation between ΔhsCRP and other inflammatory markers with MFR and hs-cTnT. We studied 66 subjects, 82% of which were women, mean RA duration 7.4 years. The median atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk was 2.5%; 47% had coronary microvascular dysfunction and 23% had detectable hs-cTnT. We observed no change in mean MFR before (2.65) and after treatment (2.64, P=0.6) or hs-cTnT. A correlation was observed between a reduction in hsCRP and interleukin-1b with a reduction in hs-cTnT.

CONCLUSIONS

In this RA cohort with low prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, nearly 50% of subjects had coronary microvascular dysfunction at baseline. A reduction in inflammation was not associated with improved MFR. However, a modest reduction in interleukin-1b and no other inflammatory pathways was correlated with a reduction in subclinical myocardial injury.

REGISTRATION

URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02714881.

Role of Cardiac Biomarkers in the Evaluation of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that can cause permanent joint damage and premature death. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has recently been known to have become a significant cause of death in rheumatoid arthritis patients, and cardiovascular (CV) deaths have risen by 20-50% in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Early detection methods are necessary to improve the outcome for such patients. Cardiac biomarkers have been proven to be an effective tool for evaluating the heart's activity. In this study, we have used a systematic literature review approach in order to establish an overview of the current literature, highlight the advantages of using cardiac biomarkers in early detection and diagnosis, and improve the prognosis of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. We reviewed 269 articles from January 1, 2012, to August 6, 2023, from reputed journals, out of which we focused on seven papers for in-depth analysis. This analysis considered certain factors, including the age factor, sex factor, clinical risk score, and comparison of the benefits of using this method amongst clinicians for diagnosis purposes. The systematic review has revealed that cardiac biomarkers have a good ability to act as predictors of subsequent cardiovascular events. Cardiac biomarkers include high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTropT) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). We learned that the cardiac biomarkers indicate inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, congestion, and myocardial injury, which are linked with elementary changes in cardiac structure and function. Biomarkers could be used for the purpose of screening cardiac variations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. However, this method tends to have its own challenges to implement, considering other factors such as age and NSAID use. Nonetheless, further research and intervention about the use of cardiac biomarkers are important in order to earn the potential to make this method available to be used worldwide to improve outcomes for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Lipid metabolism and rheumatoid arthritis

As a chronic progressive autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by mainly damaging the synovium of peripheral joints and causing joint destruction and early disability. RA is also associated with a high incidence rate and mortality of cardiovascular disease. Recently, the relationship between lipid metabolism and RA has gradually attracted attention. Plasma lipid changes in RA patients are often detected in clinical tests, the systemic inflammatory status and drug treatment of RA patients can interact with the metabolic level of the body. With the development of lipid metabolomics, the changes of lipid small molecules and potential metabolic pathways have been gradually discovered, which makes the lipid metabolism of RA patients or the systemic changes of lipid metabolism after treatment more and more comprehensive. This article reviews the lipid level of RA patients, as well as the relationship between inflammation, joint destruction, cardiovascular disease, and lipid level. In addition, this review describes the effect of anti-rheumatic drugs or dietary intervention on the lipid profile of RA patients to better understand RA.

Risk factors associated with relapse after methotrexate dose reduction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving golimumab and methotrexate combination therapy

AIM

To identify risk factors for relapse after methotrexate (MTX) dose reduction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving golimumab (GLM)/MTX combination therapy.

METHOD

Data on RA patients ≥20 years old receiving GLM (50 mg) + MTX for ≥6 months were retrospectively collected. MTX dose reduction was defined as a reduction of ≥12 mg from the total dose within 12 weeks of the maximum dose (≥1 mg/wk average). Relapse was defined as Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using C-reactive protein level (DAS28-CRP) score ≥3.2 or sustained (≥ twice) increase of ≥0.6 from baseline.

RESULTS

A total of 304 eligible patients were included. Among the MTX-reduction group (n = 125), 16.8% of patients relapsed. Age, duration from diagnosis to the initiation of GLM, baseline MTX dose, and DAS28-CRP were comparable between relapse and no-relapse groups. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of relapse after MTX reduction was 4.37 (95% CI 1.16-16.38, P = 0.03) for prior use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and the aORs for cardiovascular disease (CVD), gastrointestinal disease and liver disease were 2.36, 2.28, and 3.03, respectively. Compared to the non-reduction group, the MTX-reduction group had a higher proportion of patients with CVD (17.6% vs 7.3%, P = 0.02) and a lower proportion of prior use of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (11.2% vs. 24.0%, P = 0.0076).

CONCLUSION

Attention should be given to RA patients with history of CVD, gastrointestinal disease, liver disease, or prior NSAIDs-use when considering MTX dose reduction to ensure benefits outweigh the risks of relapse.

Short-term, intermediate-term and long-term risks of acute coronary syndrome in cohorts of patients with RA starting biologic DMARDs: results from four Nordic countries

OBJECTIVES

To compare the 1-year, 2-year and 5-year incidences of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) starting any of the biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) currently available in clinical practice and to anchor these results with a general population comparator.

METHODS

Observational cohort study, with patients from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden starting a bDMARD during 2008-2017. Time to first ACS was identified through register linkages. We calculated the 1-year, 2-year and 5-year incidence rates (IR) (on drug and ever since treatment start) and used Cox regression (HRs) to compare ACS incidences across treatments taking ACS risk factors into account. Analyses were further performed separately in subgroups defined by age, number of previous bDMARDs and history of cardiovascular disease. We also compared ACS incidences to an individually matched general population cohort.

RESULTS

24 083 patients (75% women, mean age 56 years) contributing 40 850 treatment courses were included. During the maximum (5 years) follow-up (141 257 person-years (pyrs)), 780 ACS events occurred (crude IR 5.5 per 1000 pyrs). Overall, the incidence of ACS in RA was 80% higher than that in the general population. For all bDMARDs and follow-up definitions, HRs were close to 1 (etanercept as reference) with the exception of the 5-year risk window, where signals for abatacept, infliximab and rituximab were noted.

CONCLUSION

The rate of ACS among patients with RA initiating bDMARDs remains elevated compared with the general population. As used in routine care, the short-term, intermediate-term and longer-term risks of ACS vary little across individual bDMARDs.