Abstract
Background
Previous studies have shown that risk chart algorithms, such as the Systematic Coronary Risk Assessment (SCORE), often underestimate the actual cardiovascular (CV) risk of ...patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In contrast, carotid ultrasound was found to be useful to identify RA patients at high CV. In the present study, we aimed to determine if specific disease features influence the CV risk reclassification of RA patients assessed by SCORE risk charts and carotid ultrasound.
Methods
1279 RA patients without previous CV events, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease were studied. Disease characteristics including disease activity scores, CV comorbidity, SCORE calculation, and the presence of carotid plaque by carotid ultrasound were assessed. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to evaluate if the reclassification into very high CV risk category was independently associated with specific features of the disease including disease activity. Additionally, a prediction model for reclassification was constructed in RA patients.
Results
After carotid ultrasound assessments, 54% of the patients had carotid plaque and consequently fulfilled definition for very high CV risk. Disease activity was statistically significantly associated with reclassification after fully multivariable analysis. A predictive model containing the presence of dyslipidemia and hypertension, an age exceeding 54 years, and a DAS28-ESR score equal or higher than 2.6 yielded the highest discrimination for reclassification.
Conclusion
Reclassification into very high CV risk after carotid ultrasound assessment occurs in more than the half of patients with RA. This reclassification can be independently explained by the activity of the disease.
The aim of this study was to determine the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a molecule involved in multiple vascular and fibrosing abnormalities, as a biomarker of interstitial lung disease (ILD), as ...well as its use for the differential diagnosis between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and ILD associated with autoimmune diseases (AD-ILD), using a large and well-defined cohort of patients with ILD. A total of 112 patients with IPF, 91 patients with AD-ILD (28 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 26 systemic sclerosis, 20 idiopathic inflammatory myositis and 17 interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features) and 44 healthy controls were included. ET-1 serum levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A significant increase in ET-1 levels was found in patients with IPF compared to controls. Likewise, AD-ILD patients also showed higher ET-1 levels than controls when the whole cohort was stratified by the type of AD. Similar ET-1 levels were found in IPF and AD-ILD patients, regardless of the underlying AD. Interestingly, increased ET-1 levels were correlated with worse lung function in IPF and RA-ILD patients. Our study supports that serum ET-1 may be useful as a biomarker of ILD, although it could not help in the differential diagnosis between IPF and AD-ILD. Moreover, ET-1 levels may be associated with ILD severity.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background Chronic inflammatory diseases have been associated with increased prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis. Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease involving ...intertriginous skin. Objective We sought to investigate the potential association between HS and subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods This study included 68 patients with HS and 136 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Patients with history of cardiovascular events, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, or another concomitant inflammatory condition were excluded. Carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaques were measured by carotid ultrasonography. Adjustments were made for age, sex, and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Results Patients had greater carotid intima-media thickness values than control subjects (0.615 ± 0.097 vs 0.578 ± 0.098 mm; P = .012). Carotid plaques were also more frequent in patients than in control subjects (30.9% vs 22.1%). In the multivariable regression model adjusted for age, sex, and traditional cardiovascular risk factors, HS was significantly related to the presence of carotid plaques (odds ratio 2.99, 95% confidence interval 1.26-7.13; P = .013). Limitations Causality could not be assessed. Conclusions These results indicate an increased frequency of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with HS. Accordingly, HS should be considered a disease associated with potentially increased cardiovascular risk.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) constitutes the most critical comorbidity in autoimmune diseases (ADs) and its early diagnosis remains a challenge for clinicians. Accordingly, we evaluated whether ...E-selectin, ICAM-1, and ET-1, key molecules in endothelial damage, could be useful biomarkers for the detection of AD-ILD
. We recruited patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-ILD
(
= 21) and systemic sclerosis (SSc)-ILD
(
= 21). We included comparison groups of patients: RA-ILD
(
= 25), SSc-ILD
(
= 20), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (
= 21). Serum levels of these proteins were determined by ELISA. E-selectin, ICAM-1, and ET-1 serum levels were increased in RA-ILD
and IPF patients in comparison to RA-ILD
patients. Additionally, SSc-ILD
and IPF patients exhibited higher ICAM-1 levels than those with SSc-ILD
. The ability of E-selectin, ICAM-1, and ET-1 to discriminate RA-ILD
from RA-ILD
patients, and ICAM-1 to distinguish SSc-ILD
from SSc-ILD
patients was confirmed using ROC curve analysis. Furthermore, elevated levels of ET-1 and E-selectin correlated with lung function decline in RA-ILD
and SSc-ILD
patients, respectively. In conclusion, our findings support the relevant role of E-selectin, ICAM-1, and ET-1 in RA-ILD
patients as well as of ICAM-1 in SSc-ILD
patients, constituting potential screening blood biomarkers of ILD in AD. Moreover, this study suggests ET-1 and E-selectin as possible indicators of worsening lung function in RA-ILD
and SSc-ILD
patients, respectively.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with an increased prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk. Angiopoietin‐2 (Ang‐2), asymmetric ...dimethylarginine (ADMA), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) are molecules related to endothelial dysfunction (ED) and atherosclerosis, but also to disease severity in patients with chronic inflammatory disorders. In this case–control study, we aimed to investigate serum Ang‐2, ADMA, and OPG levels in patients with HS, and to assess the potential relationship between these levels and disease severity. Seventy‐five patients with HS and 60 controls were assessed. Serum Ang‐2, ADMA, and OPG concentrations were determined in all participants. HS patients had significantly higher Ang‐2 and ADMA levels than controls after adjusting for confounders. Besides, Ang‐2 concentrations positively correlated with disease severity in the adjusted multivariable analysis. Nevertheless, serum OPG levels did not significantly differ between HS patients and controls. Our results indicate that serum Ang‐2 and ADMA levels are significantly increased in patients with HS. Furthermore, Ang‐2 might be a suitable marker of HS severity.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
This study aimed to determine whether, besides carotid ultrasound (US), a lateral lumbar spine radiography may also help identify ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients at high risk of cardiovascular ...(CV) disease.
A set of 125 AS patients older than 35 years without a history of CV events, diabetes mellitus, or chronic kidney disease was recruited. Carotid US and lateral lumbar spine radiography were performed in all of them. The CV risk was calculated according to the total cholesterol systematic coronary risk evaluation (TC-SCORE) algorithm. Presence of carotid plaques was defined following the Mannheim Carotid Intima-media Thickness and Plaque Consensus. Abdominal aortic calcium (AAC) in a plain radiography was defined as calcific densities visible in an area parallel and anterior to the lumbar spine.
Carotid US showed higher sensitivity than lateral lumbar spine radiography to detect high CV risk in the 54 patients with moderate TC-SCORE (61% versus 38.9%). Using carotid plaques as the gold standard test, a predictive model that included a TC-SCORE ≥ 5% or the presence of AAC in the lateral lumbar spine radiography in patients with both moderate and low CV risk (< 5%) according to the TC-SCORE yielded a sensitivity of 50.9% with a specificity of 95.7% to identify high/very high CV-risk AS patients. A positive correlation between AAC and carotid plaques was observed (r
= 0.49, p < 0.001).
A lateral lumbar spine radiography is a useful tool to identify patients with AS at high risk of CV disease.
Early diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) constitutes a challenge for the clinicians. Pulmonary vasculopathy is relevant in the development of ...interstitial lung disease. Accordingly, we aimed to explore the role of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), key molecules in the vasculopathy, as potential biomarkers of pulmonary fibrosis in RA-ILD
.
We included 21 RA-ILD
patients and two comparative groups: 25 RA-ILD
patients and 21 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. Serum levels of the molecules were determined by ELISA, and mRNA expression was quantified by qPCR.
VCAM-1, MCP-1 and ADMA serum levels were increased in RA-ILD
patients in relation to RA-ILD
and IPF patients. Additionally, RA-ILD
patients exhibited increased
(gene encoding MCP-1) and decreased
(gene related to ADMA synthesis) mRNA expression in relation to RA-ILD
patients. A lower expression of
,
, and
was observed in RA-ILD
patients when compared with those with IPF. Furthermore, MCP-1 serum levels and
mRNA expression were positively correlated with RA duration, and ADMA serum levels were positively associated with C-reactive protein in RA-ILD
patients.
Our study suggests that VCAM-1, MCP-1 and ADMA could be considered as useful biomarkers to identify ILD in RA patients, as well as to discriminate RA-ILD
from IPF, contributing to the early diagnosis of RA-ILD
.
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) increases morbidity and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although the pathogenesis of ILD associated with RA (RA-ILD
) remains poorly defined, ...vascular tissue is crucial in lung physiology. In this context, endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) are involved in endothelial tissue repair. However, little is known about their implication in RA-ILD
. Accordingly, we aimed to investigate the potential role of EPC related to endothelial damage in RA-ILD
. EPC quantification in peripheral blood from 80 individuals (20 RA-ILD
patients, 25 RA-ILD
patients, 21 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients, and 14 healthy controls) was performed by flow cytometry. EPC were considered as CD34
, CD45
, CD309
and CD133
. A significant increase in EPC frequency in RA-ILD
patients, as well as in RA-ILD
and IPF patients, was found when compared with controls (
< 0.001,
= 0.02 and
< 0.001, respectively). RA-ILD
patients exhibited a higher EPC frequency than the RA-ILD
ones (
= 0.003), but lower than IPF patients (
< 0.001). Our results suggest that EPC increase may represent a reparative compensatory mechanism in patients with RA-ILD
. The degree of EPC frequency may help to identify the presence of ILD in RA patients and to discriminate RA-ILD
from IPF.
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC), which are key effectors in the physiologic vascular network, have been described as relevant players in autoimmune diseases. We previously showed that EPC ...frequency may help to identify the presence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Given that ILD constitutes the main cause of mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, we aimed to determine the EPC contribution to the pathogenic processes of vasculopathy and lung fibrosis in SSc-ILD+. EPC quantification was performed by flow cytometry on blood from 83 individuals: 21 SSc-ILD+ patients and subjects from comparative groups (20 SSc-ILD− and 21 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients and 21 healthy controls (HC)). EPC were considered as CD34+, CD45low, CD309+, and CD133+. A significant increase in EPC frequency was found in SSc-ILD+ patients when compared to HC (p < 0.001). SSc-ILD+ patients exhibited a higher EPC frequency than SSc-ILD− patients (p = 0.012), whereas it was markedly reduced compared to IPF patients (p < 0.001). EPC frequency was higher in males (p = 0.04) and negatively correlated to SSc duration (p = 0.04) in SSc-ILD+ patients. Our results indicate a role of EPC in the processes of vasculopathy and lung fibrosis in SSc-ILD+. EPC frequency may be considered as a biomarker of ILD in SSc patients.
Introduction Recent studies suggest a role of adipokines in the pathogenesis of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Omentin-1 and apelin are two recently identified adipokines that have been involved in ...the regulation of metabolic and inflammatory responses. Aim To investigate serum omentin-1 and apelin levels in patients with HS and to assess their associations with metabolic parameters, disease severity and HS risk. Material and methods This case-control study included 139 non-diabetic individuals (78 HS patients and 61 ageand sex-matched controls). Serum concentrations of omentin-1 and apelin and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were measured in all participants. Results Serum omentin-1 concentrations were significantly higher in HS patients compared to controls, whereas apelin serum levels did not significantly differ between both groups. These differences in omentin-1 concentrations remained significant even after adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). The results of logistic regression analysis showed that increased omentin-1 plasma levels were an independent risk factor for HS. However, we found no association between serum levels of both omentin-1 and apelin with HS severity. Conclusions Our results show that patients with HS have raised omentin-1 serum levels, which are associated with HS risk.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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