The Role of Traditional Risk Factors and Inflammation Activity in Atherosclerosis Development in Psoriatic Arthritis Patients

Abstract

It is known that patients with autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus) have early atherosclerosis development which might lead to the life threatening complications and death. Epidemiology studies demonstrated the risk of myocardial infarction, cardiovascular death is increased in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which also can be explained by premature atherosclerosis development but its risk factors (RF) remain unclear.The objective: defining relationship of traditional RF for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) with the activity of the inflammatory process and atherosclerosis in patients with PsA.Materials and methods. The study included 42 patients with PsA and 20 patients with skin psoriasis (PS) who did not have atherosclerotic CVD, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and other serious diseases and did not take statins. The control group consisted of 20 healthy persons who had no signs of rheumatic, infectious and other inflammatory diseases. All enrolled patients underwent complete physical examinations, evaluation of disease activity (DAS28, PASI indexes); laboratory investigations included full blood count and ESR, CRP, plasma lipids and uric acid level. Ultrasound of carotid arteries was performed to evaluate the surrogate atherosclerosis markers – intima-media complex thickness (IMT) and atherosclerotic plaques (AP).Results. It was determined that in patients with PsA, the severity of the atherosclerotic process is more prominent compared to patients with PS (the traditional RF profiles were the same).Сonclusion. The highest level of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, uric acid, thicker intima-media complex was found in PsA group, which may indicate a pathogenetic association of additional RF with the development of a more aggressive atherosclerotic process.