Low levels of inflammation and the absence of subclinical atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease. Patients with RA have an increased risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases, however, the pathophysiological mechanisms of arterial complications in RA remain to be fully elucidated. Understanding the early markers of vascular damage may aid in preventing cardiovascular complications in patients with RA. The current study investigated this by recruiting 30 patients with RA and 30 healthy subjects. Intima-media thickness (IMT) was used to detect the presence of atherosclerotic disease and was measured in the carotid and femoral arteries. Tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-10 and matrix metalloproteinase-2 were measured as markers of inflammation. An IMT ≥0.9 mm was observed in 7/30 patients with RA, however, no significant differences between patients with RA and the controls were observed in the inflammatory markers analyzed. Of note, these results indicated that the appropriate management of RA may have affected the inflammatory status of these patients and consequently may have impacted upon subclinical atherosclerosis.