Journal
SEMINARS IN ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATISM
Volume 41, Issue 5, Pages 669-675Publisher
W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2011.08.003
Keywords
early rheumatoid arthritis; atherosclerosis; endothelial dysfunction (ED); carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT); endothelial-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation (ED-FMD)
Categories
Funding
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi [5/4, 5/3, 5/2/Ortho/2007-NCD-I]
- Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency of endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerosis in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients by carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and endothelial-dependent flow mediated vasodilatation (ED-FMD) as compared with healthy controls. Methods: The study included 35 early RA patients (disease duration < 12 months) and 35 healthy controls. Intima-media thickness of common carotid artery and ED-FMD of brachial artery were measured by high-resolution ultrasonography. Disease activity of RA was assessed by Disease Activity Score and activities of daily living were determined by Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index Score. Results: RA patients (age 38.3 +/- 10.6 years) had average disease duration of 0.46 +/- 0.28 years and 22 patients (62.9%) were rheumatoid factor (RF) positive (RF titer > 9.56 IU/mL). There were no significant differences between age, sex, and lipid profiles of patient and control group. cIMT was significantly higher in RA patients (0.50 +/- 0.16 mm) than in controls (0.44 +/- 0.09 mm) (P = 0.007). Similarly, FMD% was significantly lower in RA patients [5.26 (2.9-10.6)] as compared with controls [10.34 (7.4-14.3)] (P = 0.004). Age, systolic blood pressure, tender joint count, and swollen joint count had significant correlations with patient cIMT. RF titer came out to be the major risk factor for increased cIMT of the patients. Conclusions: Compared with controls, early RA patients have higher cIMT and lower FMD%, denoting premature atherosclerosis. Our data suggest that early determination of FMD% and cIMT may be useful tools to assess cardiovascular risk even in early RA patients. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Semin Arthritis Rheum 41:669-675
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available