Has the excess risk of acute myocardial infarction in rheumatoid arthritis relative to the general population declined? A population study of trends over time

Incidence of and Risk of Mortality After Hip Fractures in Rheumatoid Arthritis Relative to the General Population

OBJECTIVE

Osteoporosis, a known complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), increases the risk of hip fracture, which is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Fracture risk estimates in patients with RA treated with contemporary treatment strategies are lacking. The objectives were (1) estimate age-specific and sex-specific incidence rates and compare the risk of hip fractures in RA relative to age-matched and sex-matched general population controls, and (2) compare the risk of all-cause mortality in RA and general population controls after hip fracture.

METHODS

A longitudinal study of a population-based incident cohort of patients with RA diagnosed between 1997 and 2009, followed until 2014, with age-matched and sex-matched controls from the general population of British Columbia, using administrative health data. Hip fracture outcomes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] codes 820.0 or 820.2; ICD-10-Canada code S72.0 to S72.2) and mortality at predefined intervals after fracture (in hospital, 90 days, 1-year, 5-year) were identified. Hip fracture incidence rates for RA and controls, and incidence rate ratios (IRRs), were calculated. Cox proportional hazards models compared hip fracture and mortality risk in RA versus controls; logistic regression compared in-hospital mortality risk.

RESULTS

Overall, 1,314 hip fractures over 360,521 person-years were identified in 37,616 individuals with RA and 2,083 over 732,249 person-years in 75,213 controls, yielding a 28% greater fracture risk in RA (IRR 1.28 [95% confidence interval 1.20-1.37]). Mean age at time of fracture was slightly younger for RA than controls (79.6 ± 10.8 vs 81.6 ± 9.3 years). Postfracture mortality risk at one-year and five-years did not differ between RA and general population controls. Results were similar in a sensitivity analysis including only individuals with RA who received disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

CONCLUSION

People with RA had a greater risk of hip fractures, but no greater risk of mortality post fracture, than the general population. The relative risk of hip fractures observed was not as high as previously reported, likely reflecting better treatment of inflammation and management of osteoporosis and its risk factors.

Bioinformatics combining machine learning and single-cell sequencing analysis to identify common mechanisms and biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis and ischemic heart failure

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have an increased risk of ischemic heart failure (IHF), but the shared mechanisms are unclear. This study analyzed RNA sequencing data from five RA and IHF datasets to identify common biological mechanisms and significant biomarkers. One hundred and seventy-seven common differentially expressed genes (CDEGs) were identified, with enrichment analysis highlighting pathways related to sarcomere organization, ventricular myocardial tissue morphogenesis, chondrocyte differentiation, prolactin signaling, hematopoietic cell lineage, and protein methyltransferases. Five hub genes (CD2, CD3D, CCL5, IL7R, and SPATA18) were identified through protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis and machine learning. Co-expression and immune cell infiltration analyses underscored the importance of the inflammatory immune response, with hub genes showing significant correlations with plasma cells, activated CD4+ T memory cells, monocytes, and T regulatory cells. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) confirmed hub gene expression primarily in T cells, activated T cells, monocytes, and NK cells. The findings underscore the critical roles of sarcomere organization, prolactin signaling, protein methyltransferase activity, and immune responses in the progression of IHF in RA patients. These insights not only identify valuable biomarkers and therapeutic targets but also offer promising directions for early diagnosis, personalized treatments, and preventive strategies for IHF in the context of RA. Moreover, the results highlight opportunities for repurposing existing drugs and developing new therapeutic interventions, which could reduce the risk of IHF in RA patients and improve their overall prognosis.

Antimalarial Adherence and Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Population-Based Study

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to assess the association between antimalarial adherence and cardiovascular events between incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) population-based cohorts.

METHODS

All patients with incident RA/SLE and incident antimalarial use in British Columbia, Canada, between January 1997 and March 2015 were identified using provincial administrative databases. The outcomes were incident cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or venous thromboembolism (VTE). The exposure was antimalarial adherence with levels: discontinuation (proportion of days covered [PDC = 0]), nonadherence (0 < PDC < 0.90), and adherence (PDC ≥ 0.90). We used marginal structural models to estimate the effect of antimalarial adherence on the rate of cardiovascular events, accounting for potential confounders.

RESULTS

We identified 16,538 individuals with incident RA/SLE and incident antimalarial use without any cardiovascular event before the index date. Over nine years mean follow-up, 2,174 incident cardiovascular events (13.2%) were observed. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for incident cardiovascular events for antimalarial adherence relative to discontinuation was 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64-0.81) and 1.01 (95% CI 0.90-1.14) for nonadherence. Additionally, the aHRs for all cardiovascular events, MI, stroke, and VTE for adherence relative to nonadherence was 0.71 (95% CI 0.61-0.82), 0.62 (95% CI 0.51-0.75), 0.45 (95% CI 0.36-0.58), and 0.65 (95% CI 0.46-0.93), respectively. We found older age modified the association between antimalarial adherence and cardiovascular events (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

When people newly diagnosed with RA or SLE take their antimalarial regularly as prescribed (PDC ≥ 0.90), they have a 29% lower risk of sustaining a cardiovascular event than patients with a lower degree of adherence (PDC < 0.90) and a 28% lower risk than if they discontinue antimalarials.

Diagnosis and management of cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis: main challenges and research agenda

INTRODUCTION

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) exhibit a cardiovascular (CV) risk that is 1.5-2.0 times higher compared to the general population. This CV risk excess is likely caused by the involvement of chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation. Therefore, conventional algorithms and imaging techniques fail to fully account for this risk excess and provide a suboptimal risk stratification, hence limiting clinical management in this setting.

AREAS COVERED

Compelling evidence has suggested a role for adaptations of conventional algorithms (Framingham, SCORE, AHA, etc) or the development of RA-specific algorithms, as well as the use of a number of several, noninvasive imaging techniques to improve CV risk assessment in RA populations. Similarly, in-depth analyses of atherosclerosis pathogenesis in RA patients have shed new light into a plethora of soluble biomarkers (such as inflammatory cytokines, vascular remodeling mediators or autoantibodies) that may provide incremental value for CV risk stratification.

EXPERT OPINION

Extensive research has demonstrated a lack of performance of chart adaptations in capturing real CV risk in RA population, as well as for RA-specific algorithms. Similarly, limitations have been detected in the use of soluble mediators. The development of a novel, RA-specific algorithm including classical and non-traditional risk factors may be advisable.

Time Trends of Cardiovascular Disease in the General Population and Inflammatory Arthritis

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading causes of death in the world, but declining trends for cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity have been observed during the last decades. Reports on secular trends regarding the excess CV mortality and morbidity in rheumatoid arthritis show diverging results. Data support that also patients with inflammatory arthritis have benefited from improved treatment and prevention for CVD, which can be observed, for example, in decreased case fatality after CV event. However, several recent studies indicate a remaining excess CV risk in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs improve the cardiovascular profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting about 0. 5–1% of the adult population and manifesting as persistent synovitis, systemic inflammation and production of autoantibodies. Patients affected by RA not only experience chronic disease progression, but are also burdened by a 1.5-fold increased cardiovascular (CV) risk, which is comparable to the risk experienced by patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. RA patients also have a higher incidence and prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Although RA patients frequently present traditional CV risk factors such as insulin resistance and active smoking, previous studies have clarified the pivotal role of chronic inflammation–driven by proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)–in accelerating the process of atherosclerosis and impairing the coagulation system. Over the last years, a number of studies have shown that disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) reducing the inflammatory state in general improve the CV risk, however some drugs may carry some apparent negative effects. Thus, RA is a model of disease in which targeting inflammation may counteract the progression of atherosclerosis and reduce CV risk. Clinical and experimental evidence indicates that the management of RA patients should be tailored based on the positive and negative effects of DMARDs on CV risk together with the individual traditional CV risk profile. The identification of genetic, biochemical and clinical biomarkers, predictive of evolution and response to treatment, will be the next challenge for a precision approach to reduce the burden of the disease.

Outcomes of the First Episode of STEMI in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients from the National Inpatient Sample Database, 2016-2019

BACKGROUND

Patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but conflicting results were seen regarding in-hospital outcomes of STEMI in patients with RA compared to patients without RA.

OBJECTIVES

To compare in-hospital outcomes of the first episode of STEMI between patients with and without RA.

METHODS

The NIS database was used to conduct a retrospective study of U.S. hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of first-time STEMI from 2016 to 2019. We divided our study population into two cohorts, with diagnosis codes for RA and those without RA and compared baseline demographics, comorbidities, and in-hospital outcomes and finally performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjusting for baseline factors.

RESULTS

Our analysis revealed that patients with RA were statistically more likely to be older, white, and female and had more hypertension, cardiomyopathy, CKD stage 3 or greater and heart failure. However, after adjusting for potential confounders, we found lower inpatient mortality in the first STEMI with RA cohort (adjusted OR: 0.70, 95% CI of 0.56-0.87, p <0.002) compared to the patients without RA. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in rates of in-hospital complications, including repeat MI, acute heart failure, arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, and stroke.

CONCLUSION

In this study, patients with RA with first STEMI had lower inpatient mortality than those without RA. However, further patient-level studies are needed to understand better the impact of newer biologics and the effect of risk factor modification on this patient subset.

Risk Factors and Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction in a Cohort of Antiphospholipid Syndrome

BACKGROUND

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a disorder associated with thromboembolic diseases, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Given that AMI is a relatively common condition with poor prognostic features, identification of risk factors for AMI in APS is important.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was performed consisting of 332 patients with APS, and 239 patients with thrombotic APS were finally included. Patients were followed up in the outpatient department for 5 years. Clinical data and laboratory parameters were analyzed to identify the risk factors for AMI in APS. The primary and secondary clinical outcomes were all-cause mortality and recurrence of thrombosis, respectively.

RESULTS

AMI was observed in 12.1% (29/239) of patients with APS. Compared to patients without AMI, patients with AMI had multiple organ thrombosis (55.1 vs. 34.3%, p = 0.029), recurrent thrombosis (58.6 vs. 34.3%, p = 0.011), a higher incidence of atherosclerosis (62.1 vs. 23.8%, p < 0.001), higher neutrophil count (×109/L) [4.68 (3.25, 8.17) vs. 3.71 (2.64, 5.80), p = 0.036], longer QT interval (ms) [438 ms (423, 454) vs. 425 ms (410, 446), p = 0.016], and fewer venous thrombosis events (27.6 vs. 63.3%, p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis (adjusted for age and gender) identified several factors that were positively associated with AMI, including multiple organ thrombosis [odds ratio (OR) 8.862, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.817-43.212, p = 0.007), atherosclerosis (OR 5.397, 95%CI: 1.943-14.994, p = 0.001), and elevated neutrophil count (>6.3 ×109/L) (OR 3.271, 95%CI: 1.268-8.440, p = 0.014). The venous thrombosis was negatively associated with AMI (OR 0.106, 95%CI: 0.036-0.314, p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the recurrence rates of arterial thrombosis differed significantly between patients with AMI and those without AMI [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.307, p = 0.038].

CONCLUSION

Atherosclerosis, multiple organ thrombosis, an increased number of neutrophils are variables positively associated with AMI in APS, and venous thrombosis had a negative association with AMI. AMI only predicts the subsequent recurrence of arterial thrombosis. These findings suggest that distinct pathophysiological mechanisms may exist and contribute to the development of venous or arterial thrombotic APS.

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.

Effects of local cryotherapy on systemic endothelial activation, dysfunction, and vascular inflammation in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats

Aim

This study explored the systemic vascular effects of local cryotherapy with a focus on endothelial changes and arterial inflammation in the model of rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA).

Methods

Cryotherapy was applied twice a day on hind paws of AIA rats from the onset of arthritis to the acute inflammatory phase. Endothelial activation was studied in the aorta by measuring the mRNA levels of chemokines (CXCL-1, MCP-1 (CCL-2), MIP-1α (CCL-3)) and adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, VCAM-1) by qRT-PCR. Endothelial dysfunction was measured in isolated aortic and mesenteric rings. Aortic inflammation was evaluated via the mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6) by qRT-PCR and leucocyte infiltration analysis (flow cytometry). Plasma levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-17A, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) were measured using Multiplex/ELISA.

Results

AIA was associated with an increased aortic expression of CXCL-1 and ICAM-1 as well as an infiltration of leucocytes and increased mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. Local cryotherapy, which decreased arthritis score and structural damages, reduced aortic mRNA expression of CXCL-1, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, as well as aortic infiltration of leucocytes (T lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils) and improved acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation in the aorta and mesenteric arteries. Plasma levels of IL-17A and OPG were significantly reduced by cryotherapy, while the number of circulating leucocytes was not. IL-17A levels positively correlated with endothelial activation and dysfunction.

Conclusion

In the AIA model, local cryotherapy reduced systemic endothelial activation, immune cell infiltration, and endothelial dysfunction. Mechanistically, the reduction of circulating levels of IL-17A appears as the possible link between joint cooling and the remote vascular effects.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13075-022-02774-1.

Trends in the occurrence of ischaemic heart disease over time in rheumatoid arthritis: 1821 patients from 1972 to 2017

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate trends of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared with the general population over time.

METHOD

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 1821 RA patients diagnosed from 1972 to 2013. Aggregated counts of the total population of the same county (Hordaland, Norway) and period were used for comparison. Information on AMI and IHD events was obtained from hospital patient administrative systems or cardiovascular registries. We estimated incidence rates and excess of events [standardized event ratio (SER) with 95% confidence interval (CI)] compared with the general population by Poisson regression.

RESULTS

There was an average annual decline of 1.6% in age- and gender-adjusted AMI incidence rates from 1972 to 2017 (p < 0.035). The difference in events (excess events) in RA patients compared with the general population declined on average by 1.3% per year for AMI and by 2.3% for IHD from 1972 to 2014. There were no significant excess AMI (SER 1.05, 95% CI 0.82-1.35) or IHD events (SER 1.02, 95% CI 0.89-1.16) for RA patients diagnosed after 1998 compared with the general population.

CONCLUSION

Incidence rates and excess events of AMI and IHD in RA patients declined from 1972 to 2017. There were no excess AMI or IHD events in RA patients diagnosed after 1998 compared with the general population.