Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Persistent Low-grade In-flammation May Be an Impediment Needing Attention

Abstract

Objective: To determine the status of ‘residual inflammatory risk’ (RIR) and ‘residual cholesterol risk’ (RCR) in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in remission with the aim of estimating their atheroscle-rotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk. Methods: The study included patients with RA in remission during their last two clinic visits on treatment with disease- mod-ifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Using the QRISK-3 calculator, participants were stratified into four risk categories for ASCVD: ‘Very high’, ‘High’, ‘Moderate’, and ‘Low’. Patients were prescribed lipid-lowering drugs targeting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels to <50 mg/dl, <70 mg/dl, <100 mg/dl or <130 mg/dl, respectively. Those with a history of ASCVD before or during the follow-up period was excluded from the study. Multimorbidity were also recorded in all the patients. Results: The study included 130 patients with RA in remission. The results showed that despite being in remission and taking treatment for lipid control, 81 (62%) and 91 (70%) patients still had ‘RIR’ and ‘RCR’, respectively. Hypertension, hypothyroidism, type-2 diabetes mellitus and obesity were the common multimorbidity. Conclusions: Persistent RIR in 62% of patients despite being in remission, could possibly be due to the current ‘liberal’ definition of RA permitting hs-CRP level up to <10 mg/l, which is five-fold higher than the recommended <2 mg/l for ASCVD prevention. Hence it may be necessary to revise the definition of ‘remission’ in RA factoring in the suggested lower level of hs-CRP. Additionally, rheumatologists might need to be more vigilant in lipid management with appropriate patient education regarding RCR.