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Background: The Manhattan Lupus Surveillance Program (MLSP), a population-based retrospective registry of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), was used to investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease events (CVE) and compare rates among sex, age and race/ethnicity to population-based controls., Methods: Patients with prevalent SLE in 2007 aged ≥ 20 years in the MLSP were included. CVE required documentation of a myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident. We calculated crude risk ratios and adjusted risk ratios (ARR) controlling for sex, age group, race and ethnicity, and years since diagnosis. Data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the 2013-2014 NYC Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NYC HANES) were used to calculate expected CVE prevalence by multiplying NHANES and NYC HANES estimates by strata-specific counts of patients with SLE. Crude prevalence ratios (PRs) using national and NYC estimates and age standardized prevalence ratios (ASPRs) using national estimates were calculated., Results: CVE occurred in 13.9% of 1,285 MLSP patients with SLE, and risk was increased among men (ARR:1.7, 95%CI:1.2-2.5) and older adults (age > 60 ARR:2.5, 95%CI:1.7-3.8). Compared with non-Hispanic Asian patients, CVE risk was elevated among Hispanic/Latino (ARR:3.1, 95%CI:1.4-7.0) and non-Hispanic Black (ARR:3.5, 95%CI1.6-7.9) patients as well as those identified as non-Hispanic and in another or multiple racial groups (ARR:4.2, 95%CI:1.1-15.8). Overall, CVE prevalence was higher among patients with SLE than nationally (ASPR:3.1, 95%CI:3.0-3.1) but did not differ by sex. Compared with national race and ethnicity-stratified estimates, CVE among patients with SLE was highest among Hispanics/Latinos (ASPR:4.3, 95%CI:4.2-4.4). CVE was also elevated among SLE registry patients compared with all NYC residents. Comparisons with age-stratified national estimates revealed PRs of 6.4 (95%CI:6.2-6.5) among patients aged 20-49 years and 2.2 (95%CI:2.1-2.2) among those ≥ 50 years. Male (11.3, 95%CI:10.5-12.1), Hispanic/Latino (10.9, 95%CI:10.5-11.4) and non-Hispanic Black (6.2, 95%CI:6.0-6.4) SLE patients aged 20-49 had the highest CVE prevalence ratios., Conclusions: These population-based estimates of CVE in a diverse registry of patients with SLE revealed increased rates among younger male, Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic Black patients. These findings reinforce the need to appropriately screen for CVD among all SLE patients but particularly among these high-risk patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are associated with complex changes in lipids and lipoproteins that may impact cardiovascular (CV) risk. The objective of this study was to examine lipid and lipoprotein changes associated with two common RA treatment strategies, triple therapy or tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi), and association with CV risk., Methods: In this secondary data analysis of the TARGET trial, methotrexate (MTX) inadequate responders with RA were randomized to either add sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine (triple therapy), or TNFi for 24-weeks. The primary trial outcome was the change in arterial inflammation measured in the carotid arteries or aorta by FDG-PET/CT at baseline and 24-weeks; this change was described as the target-to-background ratio (TBR) in the most diseased segment (MDS). Routine lipids and advanced lipoproteins were measured at baseline and 24-weeks; subjects on statin therapy at baseline were excluded. Comparisons between baseline and follow-up lipid measurements were performed within and across treatment arms, as well as change in lipids and change in MDS-TBR., Results: We studied 122 participants, 61 in each treatment arm, with median age 57 years, 76% female, and 1.5 year median RA disease duration. When comparing treatment arms, triple therapy had on average a larger reduction in triglycerides (15.9 mg/dL, p = 0.01), total cholesterol to HDL-C ratio (0.29, p-value = 0.01), and LDL particle number (111.2, p = 0.02) compared to TNFi. TNFi had on average a larger increase in HDL particle number (1.6umol/L, p = 0.006). We observed no correlation between change in lipid measurements and change in MDS-TBR within and across treatment arms., Conclusions: Both treatment strategies were associated with improved lipid profiles via changes in different lipids and lipoproteins. These effects had no correlation with change in CV risk as measured by vascular inflammation by FDG-PET/CT., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02374021., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Diastolic dysfunction (DD) is more prevalent in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to the general population. However, its evolution over time and its significant clinical predictors remain uncharacterized. We report on baseline and prospective changes in diastolic function and its associated RA and cardiovascular (CV) predictors., Methods: In this study, 158 RA patients without clinical CV disease (CVD) were enrolled and followed up at 4 to 6 years, undergoing baseline and follow-up echocardiography to assess for DD, as well as extensive characterization of RA disease activity and CV risk factors. Novel measures of myocardial inflammation and perfusion were obtained at baseline only. Using baseline and follow-up composite DD (E/e', Left Atrial Volume Index (LAVI) or peak tricuspid regurgitation (TR) velocity; ≥ 1 in top 25%) as the outcome, multivariable regression models were constructed to identify predictors of DD., Results: DD was prevalent in RA patients without clinical heart failure (HF) (40.7% at baseline) and significantly progressed on follow-up (to 57.9%). Baseline composite DD was associated with baseline RA disease activity (Clinical Disease Activity Index; CDAI) (OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.02-1.90; p=0.034). Several individual diastolic parameters (baseline E/e' and LAVI) were associated with troponin-I and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Baseline and follow-up composite DD, however, were not associated with myocardial inflammation, myocardial microvascular dysfunction, or subclinical atherosclerosis., Conclusions: DD is prevalent in RA patients without clinical HF and increases to >50% over time. Higher RA disease activity at baseline predicted baseline composite DD. Future longitudinal studies should explore whether adverse changes in diastolic function lead to clinical HF and are attenuated by disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs)., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a cornerstone therapy for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, reports of its use and subsequent fatal arrhythmias in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) have raised concern regarding its cardiovascular (CV) safety. Therefore, we examined the relationship between HCQ use and corrected QT (QTc) length in SLE and RA patients without clinical CV disease (CVD)., Methods: SLE patients from the Columbia University Lupus Cohort registry (n = 352) and two RA cohorts (n = 178; ESCAPE-RA and RHYTHM-RA) with electrocardiograms (ECGs) collected as part of study data were analyzed. RA cohort participants were recruited from tertiary referral centers with additional referrals from community rheumatologists, while SLE subjects originated from the Columbia University Lupus Cohort. All patients met American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for SLE or RA and lacked known CVD. The exposure of interest was HCQ use and main outcome measure was QTc length [continuous or categorical (≥ 440 ms and ≥ 500 ms)]., Results: Of the combined SLE and RA cohorts (n = 530), 70% were HCQ users and 44% had a QTc ≥ 440 ms. The adjusted mean QTc length was comparable between HCQ users vs non-users (438 ms vs 437 ms). In multivariable logistic models, HCQ use was not a significant predictor of a QTc ≥ 440 ms for the entire cohort (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.48-1.23; p = 0.27). Importantly, a QTc ≥ 500 ms was inversely associated with HCQ use and not associated with arrhythmias or deaths. A significant interaction was found between HCQ use and use of anti-psychotics. Ultimately, the use of HCQ combined with any QTc prolonging medication as a group was associated with a QTc length (434 ms; 95% CI 430, 439) which was comparable to that of use of HCQ alone (433 ms; 95% CI 429-437)., Conclusion: In a combined cohort of SLE and RA patients without clinical CVD, adjusted QTc length was comparable between HCQ and non-HCQ users, supporting its CV safety in patients with rheumatic diseases., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Maladaptive physiological responses to stress appear to play a role in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, relatively little stress research in RA patients has involved the study of pain, the most commonly reported and most impairing stressor in RA. In the present study, we compared psychophysical and physiological responses to standardized noxious stimulation in 19 RA patients and 21 healthy controls., Methods: Participants underwent a single psychophysical testing session in which responses to a variety of painful stimuli were recorded, and blood samples were taken at multiple time points to evaluate the reactivity of cortisol, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) to the experience of acute pain., Results: The findings suggest that RA patients display a fairly general hyperalgesia to mechanical and thermal stimuli across several body sites. In addition, while serum cortisol levels did not differ at baseline or following pain testing in patients relative to controls, the RA patients tended to show elevations in serum IL-6 and demonstrated enhanced pain-reactivity of serum levels of TNF-alpha compared with the healthy controls (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of pain as a stressor in RA patients and add to a small body of literature documenting amplified responses to pain in RA. Future studies of the pathophysiology of RA would benefit from the consideration of acute pain levels when comparing RA patients with other groups, and future trials of analgesic interventions in RA patients may benefit from evaluating the effects of such interventions on inflammatory activity.