Myeloperoxidase as an important predictor of cardiovascular risk in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis

Background Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease with joint manifestations. In the presence of extra-articular manifestations, the morbidity and severity of the disease increase. Glucocorticoid is used as a treatment and may result in side effects related to cardiovascular risk. Methods This was a cross-sectional study including 59 volunteers with rheumatoid arthritis receiving treatment at a hospital of Campos Gerais that aimed to establish the relation between cardiovascular risk, glucocorticoid treatment and myeloperoxidase in these patients. Subjects were divided into two groups: using (n = 39) and without glucocorticoids (n = 20). They underwent clinical evaluation, physical examination and blood samples were taken. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t test and Mann-Whitney test. Logistic regression was performed to assess the cardiovascular risk. The significance level was 5% (alpha = 0.05). Calculations were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science version 21.0. Results There has been a significant difference between groups in blood glucose values (p = 0.012), which can be explained by the different percentage of diabetic patients in the groups. When assessing cardiovascular risk using the predictors of glucocorticoid dose, time of glucocorticoid use, myeloperoxidase, and C-reactive protein together, these were responsible for significantly predicting this risk (p = 0.015). Conclusion A significant relation between the predictor myeloperoxidase alone was also demonstrated (p = 0.037), it may be an important predictor of cardiovascular risk among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.

Automated summary

This study found that glucocorticoid treatment may increase cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and myeloperoxidase may be an important predictor of cardiovascular risk.