Immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in people with rheumatoid arthritis, says study
A new study suggests that immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and that the combination of two extra-low dose anti-cytokine drugs reduces rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and cardiovascular events.
The research, which was presented at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016 was carried out by Prof Aida Babaeva, head of the Department of Internal Medicine, at Volgograd State Medical University, in Russia. She says, “Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon (IFN), which normally product the body, attack health cells. Patients have painful and inflamed joints. They are also at increased cardiovascular risk, particular if their rheumatoid arthritis is not controlled.”
Professor Babaeva’s previous research showed that treatment with anti-cytokine drugs can decrease the activity of rheumatoid arthritis. Extra-low dose anti-TNFα reduced levels of inflammatory mediators and cytokines including C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor, TNF, interleukin-1 (IL-1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The effect was more apparent and developed earlier when patients were treated with a combination of anti-TNFα and anti-IFNV, both at extra-low doses.
This new study investigated the impact of the combination of drugs on cardiovascular events and included 68 patients who had suffered from active rheumatoid arthritis for at least five years. The group was divided with 38 participants randomised to receive the combination of anti-TNFα and anti-IFNV plus standard disease-modifying therapy and 30 receiving placebo plus standard therapy. During the three year follow up period, the investigators monitored rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and cardiovascular events.
Patients taking the combination of anti-cytokines had a lower rheumatoid arthritis disease activity scores, and more dramatic decreases in IL-1, IL-6 and TNFα than the group on standard therapy alone.
The incidence of cardiovascular events (unstable angina, severe hypertensive crisis, and deterioration of chronic heart failure) was more than double in the group on convention disease-modifying drugs alone (37%) compared to those also taking the combination of anti-cytokines (13%).
Prof Babaeva says, “Our findings suggest that the decreased rheumatoid arthritis disease activity with the combination of anti-cytokines translates into decreased cardiovascular risk. Rheumatoid arthritis promotes the development of cardiovascular disease in a number of ways. Therefore, decreasing disease activity may also reduce cardiovascular risk by slowing down or halting these processes.”
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