INDIANAPOLIS – Does tightly controlling rheumatoid
arthritis (RA) have an effect on the level of risk for heart attack and stroke?
It’s possible, according to a recently
published study appearing in the medical journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology.
The analysis
evaluated associations between RA disease
activity, inflammation and lipid levels among patients taking tocilizumab (Actremra), to determine if
that therapy affects their risks for major adverse cardiovascular events.
Tocilizumab, an immunosuppressive drug that
blocks inflammation, is used for treating RA, a chronic inflammatory disorder causing inflammation in the joints and resulting in painful
deformity and immobility in the fingers, wrists, feet and ankles.
The analysis
showed that decreasing inflammation is related to lower risk of cardiovascular
events even though RA patients on tocilizumab
showed increased lipid levels.
“Patients
with rheumatoid arthritis have two-to-three fold the risk of myocardial
infarction (heart attack) and stroke compared with those in the general
population,” said Vijay U. Rao, MD, PhD, the study’s principal author and a member
of Franciscan Physician Network Indiana Heart Physicians. “These findings
are important to patients with RA, rheumatologists and cardiologists because it
supports the link between inflammation and cardiovascular disease, a huge area
of research right now. Keeping the condition under control can help decrease a
patient’s risk of cardiovascular events, regardless of their cholesterol
levels.”
Dr. Rao and
his research colleagues evaluated data pooled from 3,986 adult patients having moderate
to severe RA and who received tocilizumab intravenously every four weeks in randomized
controlled trials and studies.
“Several
previous studies suggest that the increased incidence of cardiovascular disease
in RA patients is not completely explained by traditional risk factors such as
diabetes mellitus, hypertension and smoking, but now we have shown support for
the link between inflammation and cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Rao said.
“Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.”
The study was
conducted during Dr. Rao’s research fellowship with Genentech.
