Dr. Semb has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Merck/Schering-Plough, Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth/Pfizer, and Roche (less than $10,000 each).
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Rheumatoid Arthritis
Effect of intensive lipid-lowering therapy on cardiovascular outcome in patients with and those without inflammatory joint disease†
Article first published online: 27 AUG 2012
DOI: 10.1002/art.34524
Copyright © 2012 by the American College of Rheumatology
Additional Information
How to Cite
Semb, A. G., Kvien, T. K., DeMicco, D. A., Fayyad, R., Wun, C.-C., LaRosa, J. C., Betteridge, J., Pedersen, T. R. and Holme, I. (2012), Effect of intensive lipid-lowering therapy on cardiovascular outcome in patients with and those without inflammatory joint disease. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 64: 2836–2846. doi: 10.1002/art.34524
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ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT00159835 and NCT00327691.
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Dr. Semb has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Merck/Schering-Plough, Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth/Pfizer, and Roche (less than $10,000 each).
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Dr. Kvien has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD, Roche, and UCB (less than $10,000 each) and from Pfizer (more than $10,000) and research grants for Diakonhjemmet Hospital from Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD/Schering-Plough, Pfizer-Wyeth, Roche, and UCB.
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Drs. DeMicco, Fayyad, and Wun own stock or stock options in Pfizer.
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Dr. LaRosa has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Pfizer and Amgen (less than $10,000 each).
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Dr. Betteridge has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Takeda, MSD, Pfizer, Amgen, and AstraZeneca (less than $10,000 each).
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Dr. Pedersen has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Pfizer, Merck/Schering-Plough, and AstraZeneca (less than $10,000 each).
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Dr. Holme has received consulting fees, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Pfizer, Merck/Schering-Plough, AstraZeneca, and Roche (less than $10,000 each).
Publication History
- Issue published online: 27 AUG 2012
- Article first published online: 27 AUG 2012
- Accepted manuscript online: 10 MAY 2012 01:41PM EST
- Manuscript Accepted: 24 APR 2012
- Manuscript Received: 14 SEP 2011
Funded by
- South-Eastern Regional Health Authority of Norway
- Pfizer
Abstract
Objective
To examine the effect of intensive lipid-lowering therapy on a composite cardiovascular outcome (cardiovascular disease [CVD]), consisting of mortality and morbidity end points, in patients with inflammatory joint disease (rheumatoid arthritis [RA], ankylosing spondylitis [AS], or psoriatic arthritis [PsA]) by post hoc analysis of 2 prospective trials of statins with a secondary end point of CVD outcome (the Treating to New Targets [TNT] and Incremental Decrease in End Points Through Aggressive Lipid Lowering [IDEAL] studies).
Methods
Of the 18,889 patients participating in the 2 trials, 199 had RA, 46 had AS, and 35 had PsA. Lipid-lowering therapy consisted of an intensive regimen of atorvastatin 80 mg or a conventional/low-dose regimen of atorvastatin 10 mg or simvastatin 20–40 mg. The median duration of followup was nearly 5 years. Changes in lipid levels were examined by analyses of covariance. The effect on CVD was examined by Cox regression analyses, and heterogeneity tests were performed.
Results
Patients with RA and those with AS had lower baseline cholesterol levels than patients without inflammatory joint disease (least squares mean ± SEM 180.7 ± 2.3 mg/dl and 176.5 ± 4.7 mg/dl, respectively, versus 185.6 ± 0.2 mg/dl; P = 0.03 and P = 0.05, respectively). Statin treatment led to a comparable decrease in lipid levels and a 20% reduction in overall risk of CVD in both patients with and those without inflammatory joint disease.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that patients with and those without inflammatory joint disease experience comparable lipid-lowering effects and CVD risk reduction after intensive treatment with statins.