Risk of Colchicine-Associated Myopathy in Gout: Influence of Concomitant Use of Statin

Low-dose colchicine for atherosclerosis: long-term safety

Low-dose colchicine (0.5 mg daily) is now FDA-approved for secondary prevention in patients with coronary disease and will be increasingly prescribed in clinical practice. In this State-of-the-Art Review, data were collated from contemporary systemic reviews of case reports, drug registries, and placebo-controlled trials that assessed specific issues of safety related to the continuous use of colchicine in a range of clinical settings to inform physicians, pharmacists, and patients of the absolute risks of continuous use of low-dose colchicine, including among individuals taking statin therapy. Based upon these collective data, it is concluded that aside mild diarrhoea on initiation of colchicine that typically subsides in the vast majority of patients within a week of therapy, continuous use of low-dose colchicine is well tolerated and very safe. It does not affect renal, liver, or cognitive function, has no adverse effects on bleeding, wound healing, fertility, or pregnancy, and does not increase risks of cancer, serious infection, or cause-specific mortality. When appropriately prescribed to patients without significant renal or hepatic impairment, reports of myelosuppression, myotoxicity, and serious drug-drug interactions are rare and no more frequent than placebo, including in patients taking statin therapy. Physicians, pharmacists, and patients can be reassured that in the absence of significant renal or hepatic impairment continuous use of low-dose colchicine can be used safely in patients with atherosclerosis for the purpose of reducing cardiovascular risk.

Colchicine Drug Interaction Errors and Misunderstandings: Recommendations for Improved Evidence-Based Management

Colchicine is useful for the prevention and treatment of gout and a variety of other disorders. It is a substrate for CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein (P-gp), and concomitant administration with CYP3A4/P-gp inhibitors can cause life-threatening drug-drug interactions (DDIs) such as pancytopenia, multiorgan failure, and cardiac arrhythmias. Colchicine can also cause myotoxicity, and coadministration with other myotoxic drugs may increase the risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. Many sources of DDI information including journal publications, product labels, and online sources have errors or misleading statements regarding which drugs interact with colchicine, as well as suboptimal recommendations for managing the DDIs to minimize patient harm. Furthermore, assessment of the clinical importance of specific colchicine DDIs can vary dramatically from one source to another. In this paper we provide an evidence-based evaluation of which drugs can be expected to interact with colchicine, and which drugs have been stated to interact with colchicine but are unlikely to do so. Based on these evaluations we suggest management options for reducing the risk of potentially severe adverse outcomes from colchicine DDIs. The common recommendation to reduce the dose of colchicine when given with CYP3A4/P-gp inhibitors is likely to result in colchicine toxicity in some patients and therapeutic failure in others. A comprehensive evaluation of the almost 100 reported cases of colchicine DDIs is included in table form in the electronic supplementary material. Colchicine is a valuable drug, but improvements in the information about colchicine DDIs are needed in order to minimize the risk of serious adverse outcomes.

Systematic review of colchicine neuromyopathy: Risk factors, duration and resolution

OBJECTIVE

To identify reports of colchicine-induced neuropathy and myopathy and ascertain risk factors associated with this toxicity at commonly used doses.

METHODS

A systematic review of case reports was conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA methodology). PubMed and EMBASE were searched through October 2021 for case reports of neuropathy and/or myopathy associated with the use of colchicine at therapeutic doses.

RESULTS

A total of 143 cases of neuromyopathy from 99 articles were identified as having a "definite" or "probable" association with colchicine usage, as assessed by the Naranjo algorithm. Most of these cases presented with features of both neuropathy and myopathy (n=72, 51%) but symptoms of myopathy were predominant. The mean total daily dose was 1.25±0.60 mg and 48% had been taking colchicine for more than 12 months before presenting with neuromyopathy. A total of 117 (82%) of all reports had either a significant co-morbidity or possible colchicine drug-drug interaction, while 57 (40%) had both risk factors. A total of 26 cases (18%) had no significant risk factor but only 15 of these reports contained complete descriptions of the patient's co-morbidities and co-medications. Cessation of colchicine generally led to complete resolution of symptoms in 70% of cases within a median of 21 days. There were 3 deaths reported which were due to multi-organ failure despite cessation of colchicine and medical management. Colchicine was restarted at reduced doses in 15 cases and 73% had no symptom recurrence.

CONCLUSION

Neuromyopathy is an uncommon but reported adverse effect of colchicine. Cases generally present with proximal myopathy symptoms. Cases of colchicine neuromyopathy are largely reported in patients on commonly used doses. Renal and hepatic dysfunction and medications that inhibit cytochrome P450 3A4 isozyme (CYP3A4) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) appear to be the most significant risk factors. Fortunately, cessation of colchicine generally leads to complete resolution of symptoms. Recommencement of colchicine at reduced doses appeared to be usually safe.

A systematic review of the drug-drug interaction between statins and colchicine: Patient characteristics, etiologies, and clinical management strategies

Colchicine and statins are frequently co-prescribed for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, auto-inflammatory diseases, and gout. Both are substrates and inhibitors of the cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 3A4 isozyme and P-glycoprotein so that taken together, they represent a clinically significant interaction. Data suggest the interaction may be associated with potentially life-threatening myopathies and rhabdomyolysis. The purposes of this systematic review (SR) were to gather and appraise evidence surrounding the statin-colchicine drug interaction and discuss related risk-mitigation strategies. An electronic literature search was performed. Twenty-one articles met the protocol to be included in the qualitative analysis: 18 case reports/series, 2 retrospective observational cohort studies, and 1 retrospective case-control study. Thirty-eight patients developed an adverse drug event (ADE) receiving statin-colchicine combination therapy; 25 (66%) patients developed myopathy; 10 (26%) patients developed rhabdomyolysis, and three (8%) patients developed neuromyopathy. Over 70% of patients developed ADEs on simvastatin or atorvastatin, and 80% of studies reported moderate-to-high intensity statins. Colchicine dosing varied but ranged between 0.5 to 1.5 mg daily. Sixty-two percent of patients in the case reports/series had comorbid renal disease. Seven studies (33% of all included studies) reported patients taking concomitant interacting medications at the CYP3A4 and/or P-glycoprotein efflux pump. Seventeen studies (81% of all included studies) reported ADEs leading to hospitalization. A multivariate analysis from one case-control study identified risk factors prognosticating myopathy ADEs in patients taking statin-colchicine therapy: comorbid renal disease and/or cirrhosis, colchicine doses 1.2 mg daily or greater, and concomitant interacting medications. Clinicians must be cognizant that the statin-colchicine drug interaction may lead to patient harm and thus should employ risk-mitigation strategies for statin-associated muscle symptoms. Future studies are warranted to validate clinically relevant risk factors that are strongly associated with the complications owing to the statin-colchicine drug interaction.

[A case report of colchicine-induced myopathy in a patient with chronic kidney disease]

Colchicine plays an important role in the treatment of gout and some other diseases. Besides gastrointestinal symptoms, myopathy has been reported as a rare side effect of colchicine in some patients. We report a case of myopathy in a patient with chronic kidney disease caused by high-dose colchicine, and then review literature on colchicine-induced myopathy, so as to provide some experience for the clinical diagnosis, treatment and medication safety. A 51-year-old male patient with 10 years of gout and 5 years of chronic kidney disease history and irregular treatment was admitted to the hospital with complaint of recurrent left wrist arthralgia and emerging lower extremities myalgia after intake of 40-50 mg colchicine in total within 20 days. Laboratory examinations showed significantly increased creatine kinase (CK) and then colchicine-induced myopathy was diagnosed preliminarily. After withdrawl of colchicine and implementation of hydration, alkalization and intramuscular injection of compound betamethasone, the symptoms of arthralgia and myalgia were relieved within 3 days and CK decreased to normal range gradually. According to literature reports, colchicine related myopathy was mostly characterized by proximal myasthenia and myalgia, accompanied by elevated CK level, which usually occurred days to weeks after initial administration of colchicine at the usual dosage in patients with renal impairment or a change in the underlying disease state in those receiving long-term therapy, and the features might remit within three to four weeks after the drug was discontinued. Electromyography of proximal muscles showed myopathy marked by abnormal spontaneous activity and muscle pathology waa marked by accumulation of lysosomes and autophagic vacuoles. Chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis, higher colchicine dose and concomitant cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) inhibitors were associated with increased risk of myo-pathy. Based on the similar efficacy and lower adverse reaction rate compared with larger dosage, small dose of colchicine was recommended by many important current guidelines and recommendations in the treatment of gout. In consideration of potential risks, colchicine should be used with caution in patients with kidney or liver impairment, and in those taking CYP3A4 or P-glycoprotein inhibitors. For those patients, the drug dose should be adjusted and the latent adverse reactions should be monitored carefully.

Colchicine-Induced Acute Myopathy: Case Study From Saudi Arabia

Colchicine-induced myopathy has been described in patients with chronic renal failure and patients who are using a concomitant drug like a statin. However, pure myopathy caused by colchicine has never been reported in Saudi Arabia. A 64-year-old patient received colchicine for his gout arthritis disease and developed upper and lower limb weakness. He had a proximal weakness, and his muscle enzymes were very high. Furthermore, the needle electromyography (EMG) examination showed abundant fibrillations, myotonic discharges, and myopathic motor units. Two weeks after colchicine cessation, his weakness improved dramatically with normalization of creatine kinase (CK) and disappearance of myotonic discharges in the repeated EMG. This is the first case in Saudi Arabia that showed colchicine-induced myositis. The local clinicians' community needs to be aware of this rare side effect, as clinical suspicion is the most important diagnostic clue and the only effective treatment is the termination of colchicine.

Repurposing colchicine's journey in view of drug-to-drug interactions. A review

Colchicine's medical evolution is historically bound to the Mediterranean basin, since remarkable researchers from this region underscored its valuable properties. With the passing of years colchicine became an essential pharmaceutical substance for the treatment of rheumatologic and cardiovascular diseases. In light of recent findings, the therapeutic value of colchicine has grown. In clinical practice, colchicine remains underutilized in view of its proven efficacy and safety. Its complex pharmacokinetics and multifaceted anti-inflammatory role remain under investigation. The current review addresses the safe administration of colchicine in view of key drug to drug interactions. Finally, we are briefly presenting colchicine's future potential applications.

Efficacy and safety of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with chronic kidney disease: a Gout, Hyperuricemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN)-initiated literature review

Gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD) is challenging, given limited treatment options and risk of worsening renal function with inappropriate treatment dosing. This literature review aimed to describe the current literature on the efficacy and safety of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with CKD stages 3-5. A literature search via PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE was performed from 1 January 1959 to 31 January 2018. Inclusion criteria were studies with people with gout and renal impairment (i.e. estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or creatinine clearance (CrCl) < 60 ml/min/1.73 m²), and with exposure to colchicine, interleukin-1 inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and glucocorticoids. All study designs were included. A total of 33 studies with efficacy and/or safety analysis stratified by renal function were reviewed-colchicine (n = 20), anakinra (n = 7), canakinumab (n = 1), NSAIDs (n = 3), and glucocorticoids (n = 2). A total of 58 studies reported these primary outcomes without renal function stratification-colchicine (n = 29), anakinra (n = 10), canakinumab (n = 6), rilonacept (n = 2), NSAIDs (n = 1), and glucocorticoids (n = 10). Most clinical trials excluded study participants with severe CKD (i.e. eGFR or CrCl of < 30 mL/min/1.73 m²). Information on the efficacy and safety outcomes of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use stratified by renal function is lacking. Clinical trial results cannot be extrapolated for those with advanced CKD. Where possible, current and future gout flare studies should include patients with CKD and with study outcomes reported based on renal function and using standardised gout flare definition.

Colchicine in coronary artery disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Inflammation has been seen to be a key feature of atherosclerosis and CAD, with a raised C-reactive protein being a marker of poor prognosis. Thus, the role of anti-inflammatory agents has been investigated in CAD. Colchicine is a well-known, inexpensive drug with marked anti-inflammatory effects. Here, we discuss the role of colchicine in stable CAD and post-acute coronary syndrome. We suggest that colchicine may play a key role in prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with stable and unstable CAD as colchicine is associated with a reduction in the rate of myocardial infarction and other major cardiovascular outcomes.

[A case of colchicine myopathy in which the long-term use of colchicine hampered the recovery]

A 69-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of limb weakness. She was diagnosed to have chronic renal failure due to diabetes mellitus and had suffered from pericardial effusion at 67 years of age. She started taking colchicine 18 months before admission and thereafter gradually developed muscle weakness in her limbs and had become bedridden at the time of admission. The withdrawal of colchicine improved her limb weakness, and therefore we diagnosed her to have colchicine myopathy. Her muscle strength did not completely recover even after six months from cessation of colchicine. It was suggested that renal failure and muscle disuse had prevented the full recovery of her muscles in addition to the long-term use of colchicine. Typical colchicine myopathy improves rapidly, but the long-term use of colchicine is considered to cause muscle weakness. Although the CK level was elevated, the elevated CK and myopathy had been overlooked because the CK baseline was low due to the patient's small amount of muscle mass. Moreover, the estimated GFR was recorded to be higher than her actual renal function due to her small amount of muscle mass, therefore the risk of colchicine myopathy in this case remained unrecognized.

Toxic Myopathies

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This article reviews the pathogenesis, clinical features, and management of toxic myopathy related to common medications, critical illness, and illicit substances.

RECENT FINDINGS

Muscle symptoms are common among statin users and are usually reversible after discontinuation of the statin; rarely, however, statins trigger an immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy that persists and requires immunomodulatory therapy. Autoantibodies targeting 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase can distinguish the toxic and immune-mediated forms. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, increasingly used in the treatment of advanced cancer, have recently been associated with the development of inflammatory myositis. A reversible mitochondrial myopathy has long been associated with zidovudine, but recent reports elucidate the risk of myopathy with newer antivirals, such as telbivudine and raltegravir.

SUMMARY

The medications most commonly associated with myopathy include statins, amiodarone, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, colchicine, certain antivirals, and corticosteroids, and myopathy can occur with chronic alcoholism. Certain clinical, electrodiagnostic, and histologic features can aid in early recognition. Stopping the use of the offending agent reverses symptoms in most cases, but specific and timely treatment may be required in cases related to agents that trigger immune-mediated muscle injury.

Efficacy and safety of colchicine in inflammatory skin diseases: a retrospective, monocentric study in a large tertiary center

Introduction: Colchicine is an ancient, but rarely used drug. Little data exist on its efficacy and safety in patients suffering from skin diseases. The objective of our study was to determine whether colchicine showed favorable efficacy and safety in our patients during the last 20 years.Methods: The hospital database was searched for patients treated with colchicine in the last 20 years (January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2017). Overall, total of 41 patients were included in our study.Results: In 63.4% of all patients, either a complete response or an improvement of disease was observed. Adverse events occurred rarely.Discussion: Colchicine is an effective and safe treatment.

Variation in methods, results and reporting in electronic health record-based studies evaluating routine care in gout: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To perform a systematic review examining the variation in methods, results, reporting and risk of bias in electronic health record (EHR)-based studies evaluating management of a common musculoskeletal disease, gout.

METHODS

Two reviewers systematically searched MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar for all EHR-based studies published by February 2019 investigating gout pharmacological treatment. Information was extracted on study design, eligibility criteria, definitions, medication usage, effectiveness and safety data, comprehensiveness of reporting (RECORD), and Cochrane risk of bias (registered PROSPERO CRD42017065195).

RESULTS

We screened 5,603 titles/abstracts, 613 full-texts and selected 75 studies including 1.9M gout patients. Gout diagnosis was defined in 26 ways across the studies, most commonly using a single diagnostic code (n = 31, 41.3%). 48.4% did not specify a disease-free period before 'incident' diagnosis. Medication use was suboptimal and varied with disease definition while results regarding effectiveness and safety were broadly similar across studies despite variability in inclusion criteria. Comprehensiveness of reporting was variable, ranging from 73% (55/75) appropriately discussing the limitations of EHR data use, to 5% (4/75) reporting on key data cleaning steps. Risk of bias was generally low.

CONCLUSION

The wide variation in case definitions and medication-related analysis among EHR-based studies has implications for reported medication use. This is amplified by variable reporting comprehensiveness and the limited consideration of EHR-relevant biases (e.g. data adequacy) in study assessment tools. We recommend accounting for these biases and performing a sensitivity analysis on case definitions, and suggest changes to assessment tools to foster this.

Autophagy Defects in Skeletal Myopathies

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process that targets different types of cytoplasmic cargo (such as bulk cytoplasm, damaged cellular organelles, and misfolded protein aggregates) for lysosomal degradation. Autophagy is activated in response to biological stress and also plays a critical role in the maintenance of normal cellular homeostasis; the latter function is particularly important for the integrity of postmitotic, metabolically active tissues, such as skeletal muscle. Through impairment of muscle homeostasis, autophagy dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of many different skeletal myopathies; the observed autophagy defects differ from disease to disease but have been shown to involve all steps of the autophagic cascade (from induction to lysosomal cargo degradation) and to impair both bulk and selective autophagy. To highlight the molecular and cellular mechanisms that are shared among different myopathies with deficient autophagy, these disorders are discussed based on the nature of the underlying autophagic defect rather than etiology or clinical presentation.

Colchicine Myopathy: A Case Series Including Muscle MRI and ABCB1 Polymorphism Data

Colchicine is a medication most commonly used in the treatment of gout and familial mediterannean fever. A rare complication of therapy is toxicity causing proximal myopathy and polyneuropathy. Colchicine myopathy has been associated with the coadministration of other medications with colchicine, such as statins or tacrolimus, and is more common in patients with renal impairment. Otherwise, it is unclear which patients are at greatest risk of developing this adverse drug reaction. ABCB1 is important to the metabolism of colchicine, so we speculated that it was possible that colchicine myopathy patients may have a particular genotype that is associated with this side effect. We describe two cases of colchicine myopathy which occurred with co-administration of rosuvastatin. From one case, we present the first published data on muscle MRI in this condition. We additionally present an analysis of four genetic polymorphisms in ABCB1 and transcript levels in muscle tissue, and demonstrate the descriptive finding of reduced ABCB1 transcript levels in the colchicine myopathy patients.

Current and future therapies for gout

INTRODUCTION

Gout is a common disease responsible for recurrent flares triggered by the deposition of monosodium urate crystals secondary to longstanding hyperuricaemia. The management of gout implies both the treatment of flares and the treatment of hyperuricaemia itself. Recent improvement in the understanding of the disease led to the development of new drugs. Areas covered: This review covers data related to 'old' treatments of flares and hyperuricaemia, evidence on the recently approved drugs and emerging therapies in development. Expert opinion: Recent data provide a good grasp of the optimal use of colchicine, corticosteroids and NSAIDs for the treatment of flares. Interleukin-1 blocking therapies have an increasing role in the management of difficult-to-treat gout. Sub-optimal use of allopurinol is common and its potency to reduce serum uric acid (SUA) levels is underestimated. Febuxostat effectively reduces SUA levels. New uricosurics, notably lesinurad and arhalofenate, in combination with xanthine oxidase inhibitors, offer promising perspectives to help a greater number of patients achieve sufficient SUA reduction.

Biorhizome: A Biosynthetic Platform for Colchicine Biomanufacturing

Colchicine is one of the oldest plant-based medicines used to treat gout and one of the most important alkaloid-based antimitotic drugs with anticancer potential, which is commercially extracted from Gloriosa superba. Clinical trials suggest that colchicine medication could prevent atrial fibrillation recurrence after cardiac surgery. In addition, therapeutic colchicine is undergoing clinical trials to treat non-diabetic metabolic syndrome and diabetic nephropathy. However, the industrial-scale biomanufacturing of colchicine have not yet been established. Clearly, further studies on detailed biorhizome-specific transcriptome analysis, gene expression, and candidate gene validation are required before uncover the mechanism of colchicine biosynthesis and biorhizome-based colchicine biomanufacturing. Annotation of 32312 assembled multiple-tissues transcripts of G. superba represented 15088 unigenes in known plant specific gene ontology. This could help understanding colchicine biosynthesis in G. superba. This review highlights the biorhizomes, rhizome specific genes or gene what expressed with high level in rhizomes, and deep fluid dynamics in a bioreactor specifically for the biomanufacture of colchicine.