Coronary artery calcium score in female rheumatoid arthritis patients: Associations with apolipoproteins and disease biomarkers

Abstract

Aims and methods: In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities are a major cause of mortality. Coronary Calcium Score (CCS) assessed by computed tomography has been associated with RA prognosis. In this work, we aimed to assess CCS in female RA patients and determine CCS association with different clinical, laboratory and imaging disease parameters.

Results: We evaluated 60 female patients, with a mean age of 53.6 ± 10.4 years, a mean Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS28) (4v) and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) of 4.542 ± 1.317 and 1.488 ± 0.631, respectively, and a disease duration of 14.7 ± 10.3 years. Mean CCS value was 35.192 ± 117.786. CCS > 10 was significantly associated with CV risk factors (age: odds ratio [OR] = 1.120; P = .002, body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25 kg/m² : OR = 0.271; P = .025, high-density lipoprotein [HDL]: OR = 0.011; P = .025, low-density lipoprotein/ HDL ratio: OR = 2.084; P = .030, apolipoprotein A1 [ApoA1]: OR = 0.965; P = .014, apolipoprotein B/ApoA1 [ApoB/ApoA1] ratio: OR = 59.834; P = .011, homocysteine: OR = 1.287; P = .045, diabetes: OR = 10.400; P = .043, and anti-diabetic therapy: OR = 10.667, P = .041), disease parameters (C-reactive protein [CRP]: OR = 1.038; P = .046, DAS[4v]: OR = 1.900; P = .009, DAS28[4v; CRP]: OR = 1.700; P = .019, DAS[3v]: OR = 1.947; P = .010, DAS28[3v; CRP]: OR = 1.696; P = .022, HAQ: OR = 3.299; P = .023, erosion score: OR = 1.015; P = .012, and total modified Sharp/van der Heijde Score: OR = 1.008; P = .035), biomarkers (osteoprotegerin: OR = 1.505; P = .022), and bone mineral density (femoral: OR = 0.005; P = .018, lumbar spine: OR = 0.001; P = .002, left hand: OR = 7.9 × 10^-9 ; P = .005, and osteoporosis: OR = 6.628; P = .007). After adjustment for age and BMI, significant associations were maintained with ApoA1, ApoB/ApoA1 ratio, homocysteine, CRP, DAS(4v), DAS(4v; CRP), DAS(3v) and DAS(3v; CRP). A sensitivity analysis undertaken after excluding the 6 diabetics yielded similar results.

Conclusions: Our work reinforces the hypothesis that in RA, CCS may be a useful tool in CV risk assessment, particularly valuable in poorer controlled patients with certain lipoprotein profiles.

Keywords: biological markers; bone mineral density; cardiovascular diseases; heart diseases; rheumatoid arthritis.