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Frostegård J, Ahmed S, Hafström I, Ajeganova S, Rahman M. Low levels of PCSK9 are associated with remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with anti-TNF-α: potential underlying mechanisms. Arthritis Res Ther 2021; 23:32. [PMID: 33461620 PMCID: PMC7814540 DOI: 10.1186/s13075-020-02386-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) targets the LDL-receptor (LDLR) which raises LDL-levels. In addition, PCSK9 has proinflammatory immunological effects. Here, we investigate the role of PCSK9 in relation to the inflammatory activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods PCSK9-levels were determined at baseline by ELISA in 160 patients with RA not previously treated with biologics. The patients started anti-TNF-α (adalimumab, infliximab, or etanercept) treatment and were followed-up for 1 year. Disease activity was determined by DAS28. Effects of PCSK9 on cytokine production from macrophages of healthy individuals and synoviocytes from RA patients and inhibition by anti-PCSK9 antibodies were studied in supernatants by ELISA. Results A significantly lower level of PCSK9 at baseline, p = 0.035, was observed in patients who reached remission within 1 year, defined as DAS28 < 2.6, compared to those not in remission. At 12 months of TNF-α antagonist treatment, the mean DAS28 was reduced but was significantly greater in patients with highest quartile PCSK9 (Q4) compared to those at lowest PCSK9 (Q1) in both crude (p = 0.01) and adjusted analysis (p = 0.004). In vitro, PCSK9 induced TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in macrophages and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1) in synoviocytes. These effects were inhibited by anti-PCSK9 antibodies. Conclusions Low levels of PCSK9 at baseline are associated with being DAS28-responder to anti-TNF-α treatment in RA. An underlying cause could be that PCSK9 stimulates the production of proinflammatory cytokines from macrophages and synoviocytes, effects inhibited by anti-PCSK9 antibodies. PCSK9 could thus play an immunological role in RA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan Frostegård
- Section of Immunology and Chronic Disease, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, IMM, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Sabbir Ahmed
- Section of Immunology and Chronic Disease, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, IMM, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ingiäld Hafström
- Division of Gastroenterology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Rheumatology Unit, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sofia Ajeganova
- Division of Gastroenterology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Rheumatology Division, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mizanur Rahman
- Section of Immunology and Chronic Disease, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, IMM, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
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Curtis JR, Xie F, Crowson CS, Sasso EH, Hitraya E, Chin CL, Bamford RD, Ben-Shachar R, Gutin A, Flake DD, Mabey B, Lanchbury JS. Derivation and internal validation of a multi-biomarker-based cardiovascular disease risk prediction score for rheumatoid arthritis patients. Arthritis Res Ther 2020; 22:282. [PMID: 33276814 PMCID: PMC7718706 DOI: 10.1186/s13075-020-02355-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Accurate CVD risk prediction could improve care for RA patients. Our goal is to develop and validate a biomarker-based model for predicting CVD risk in RA patients. Methods Medicare claims data were linked to multi-biomarker disease activity (MBDA) test results to create an RA patient cohort with age ≥ 40 years that was split 2:1 for training and internal validation. Clinical and RA-related variables, MBDA score, and its 12 biomarkers were evaluated as predictors of a composite CVD outcome: myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or fatal CVD within 3 years. Model building used Cox proportional hazard regression with backward elimination. The final MBDA-based CVD risk score was internally validated and compared to four clinical CVD risk prediction models. Results 30,751 RA patients (904 CVD events) were analyzed. Covariates in the final MBDA-based CVD risk score were age, diabetes, hypertension, tobacco use, history of CVD (excluding MI/stroke), MBDA score, leptin, MMP-3 and TNF-R1. In internal validation, the MBDA-based CVD risk score was a strong predictor of 3-year risk for a CVD event, with hazard ratio (95% CI) of 2.89 (2.46–3.41). The predicted 3-year CVD risk was low for 9.4% of patients, borderline for 10.2%, intermediate for 52.2%, and high for 28.2%. Model fit was good, with mean predicted versus observed 3-year CVD risks of 4.5% versus 4.4%. The MBDA-based CVD risk score significantly improved risk discrimination by the likelihood ratio test, compared to four clinical models. The risk score also improved prediction, reclassifying 42% of patients versus the simplest clinical model (age + sex), with a net reclassification index (NRI) (95% CI) of 0.19 (0.10–0.27); and 28% of patients versus the most comprehensive clinical model (age + sex + diabetes + hypertension + tobacco use + history of CVD + CRP), with an NRI of 0.07 (0.001–0.13). C-index was 0.715 versus 0.661 to 0.696 for the four clinical models. Conclusion A prognostic score has been developed to predict 3-year CVD risk for RA patients by using clinical data, three serum biomarkers and the MBDA score. In internal validation, it had good accuracy and outperformed clinical models with and without CRP. The MBDA-based CVD risk prediction score may improve RA patient care by offering a risk stratification tool that incorporates the effect of RA inflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fenglong Xie
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | | | - Eric H Sasso
- Crescendo Bioscience, South San Francisco, CA, USA.,Myriad Genetics Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Elena Hitraya
- Crescendo Bioscience, South San Francisco, CA, USA.,Myriad Genetics Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Cheryl L Chin
- Crescendo Bioscience, South San Francisco, CA, USA.,Myriad Genetics Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Richard D Bamford
- Crescendo Bioscience, South San Francisco, CA, USA.,Myriad Genetics Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | | | | | - Darl D Flake
- Myriad Genetics Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Brent Mabey
- Myriad Genetics Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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Plein S, Erhayiem B, Fent G, Horton S, Dumitru RB, Andrews J, Greenwood JP, Emery P, Hensor EM, Baxter P, Pavitt S, Buch MH. Cardiovascular effects of biological versus conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy in treatment-naïve, early rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis 2020; 79:1414-1422. [PMID: 32859608 PMCID: PMC7569379 DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To determine whether patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) have cardiovascular disease (CVD) that is modifiable with disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy, comparing first-line etanercept (ETN) + methotrexate (MTX) with MTX strategy. METHODS Patients from a phase IV ERA trial randomised to ETN+MTX or MTX strategy±month 6 escalation to ETN+MTX, and with no CVD and maximum one traditional risk factor underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) at baseline, years 1 and 2. Thirty matched controls underwent CMR. Primary outcome measure was aortic distensibility (AD) between controls and ERA, and baseline to year 1 AD change in ERA. Secondary analyses between and within ERA groups performed. Additional outcome measures included left ventricular (LV) mass and myocardial extracellular volume (ECV). RESULTS Eighty-one patients recruited. In ERA versus controls, respectively, baseline (geometric mean, 95% CI) AD was significantly lower (3.0×10-3 mm Hg-1 (2.7-3.3) vs 4.4×10-3 mm Hg-1 (3.7-5.2), p<0.001); LV mass significantly lower (78.2 g (74.0-82.7), n=81 vs 92.9 g (84.8-101.7), n=30, p<0.01); and ECV increased (27.1% (26.4-27.9), n=78 vs 24.9% (23.8-26.1), n=30, p<0.01). Across all patients, AD improved significantly from baseline to year 1 (3.0×10-3 mm Hg-1 (2.7-3.4) to 3.6×10-3 mm Hg-1 (3.1-4.1), respectively, p<0.01), maintained at year 2. The improvement in AD did not differ between the two treatment arms and disease activity state (Disease Activity Score with 28 joint count)-erythrocyte sedimentation rate-defined responders versus non-responders. CONCLUSION We report the first evidence of vascular and myocardial abnormalities in an ERA randomised controlled trial cohort and show improvement with DMARD therapy. The type of DMARD (first-line tumour necrosis factor-inhibitors or MTX) and clinical response to therapy did not affect CVD markers. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN: ISRCTN89222125; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01295151.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sven Plein
- Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Bara Erhayiem
- Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Graham Fent
- Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Sarah Horton
- Central Lancashire Moving Well Service, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire, UK
| | - Raluca Bianca Dumitru
- Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Jacqueline Andrews
- Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - John P Greenwood
- Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Paul Emery
- Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
- NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
| | - Elizabeth Ma Hensor
- Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
- NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
| | - Paul Baxter
- Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Sue Pavitt
- Dental Translational and Clinical Research Unit, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Maya H Buch
- Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
- NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
- Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal & Dermatological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Tinggaard AB, de Thurah A, Andersen IT, Riis AH, Therkildsen J, Winther S, Hauge EM, Bøttcher M. Rheumatoid Arthritis as a Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Calcification and Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Chest Pain: A Registry Based Cross-Sectional Study. Clin Epidemiol 2020; 12:679-689. [PMID: 32612393 PMCID: PMC7322143 DOI: 10.2147/clep.s251168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose To examine the occurrence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to non-RA patients in a population referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) due to chest pain. Patients and Methods In this cross-sectional study, 46,210 patients from a national CTA database were included. Patients with RA were stratified on serology, treatment with conventional synthetic or biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and the need for relapse or flare treatment with intraarticular or -muscular glucocorticoid injections (GCIs). Primary outcomes were coronary artery calcium score (CACS) >0 and CACS ≥400, and secondary outcome was obstructive CAD. Associations between RA and outcomes were examined using logistic regression and results were adjusted for age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities. Results A total of 395 (0.9%) RA patients were identified. In overall RA, crude odds ratio (OR) for having CACS >0 was 1.48 (1.21–1.82) and 1.52 (1.15–2.01) for CACS ≥400, whereas adjusted ORs were 1.08 (0.86–1.36) and 1.21 (0.89–1.65), respectively. Seropositive RA patients had adjusted OR of 1.16 (0.89–1.50) for CACS >0 and 1.37 (0.98–1.90) for CACS ≥400. Patients who had received ≥1 GCI in the period of 3 years prior to the CTA had an adjusted OR of 1.37 (0.94–2.00) for having CACS >0 and 1.46 (0.92–2.31) for CACS ≥400. Conclusion This is the first large-scale, CTA-based study examining the occurrence and severity of CAD in RA patients with symptoms suggestive of cardiovascular disease. A higher prevalence of coronary artery calcification was found in RA patients. After adjusting for age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities, the tendency was less pronounced. We found a trend for increased coronary calcification in RA patients being seropositive or needing treatment with GCI for a relapse or flare.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Annette de Thurah
- Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Ina Trolle Andersen
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | | | - Simon Winther
- Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Morten Bøttcher
- Department of Cardiology, Hospital Unit West, Herning, Denmark
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