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Atorvastatin Appears to Reduce Arterial Stiffness in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: Presented at ACR
By Jerry Ingram
ORLANDO, FL -- October 31, 2003 -- Atorvastatin may reduce arterial stiffness, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to Australian researchers. They presented their findings here in a poster session on October 28th at the American College of Rheumatology 67th Annual Scientific Meeting.
"Our study suggests that this drug, atorvastatin, may reduce the risk of heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis," said lead investigator Sharon Van Doonum, a consultant from Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia. "This drug improved vascular stiffness, which is possible a surrogate marker of cardiovascular disease. So, the idea is that perhaps this drug can reduce the risk of heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients."
For this investigation, researchers enrolled 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, evaluating them before and after 6 weeks of treatment with oral atorvastatin 20 mg daily. They included patients with both normal and elevated LDL cholesterol levels and measured fasting lipids, ESR, CRP and arterial stiffness, which was noted as an augmentation index (AIx).
The research team found that the augmentation index in their RA patients improved from 34.1±11.4% to 30.7±11% (p<0.0001) after 6 weeks of treatment with atorvastatin. They also noted that fasting LDL cholesterol improved from 3.4±0.8 mmol/L to 1.8±0.5 mmol/L (p<0.0001) with no significant change in blood pressure, pulse rate, CRP or ESR during the study.
They concluded that treatment with atorvastatin significantly reduced arterial stiffness in patients with RA but did not reduce serum CRP, suggesting a possible role for statins in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in RA patients.
[Study title: Atorvastatin Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients. Presentation 758; Poster 153]
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