Cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis: recent advances in the understanding of the pivotal role of inflammation, risk predictors and the impact of treatment.

ABSTRACT: Risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease is increased among RA patients. High inflammatory burden associated with RA appears to be a key driver of the increased cardiovascular risk. Inflammation is linked with accelerated atherosclerosis and associated with a paradoxical inversion of the relationship between CV risk and lipid levels in patients with untreated RA, recently coined the lipid paradox. Furthermore, the inflammatory burden is also associated with qualitative as well as quantitative changes in lipoproteins, with the anti-inflammatory and atheroprotective roles associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol significantly altered. RA therapies can increase lipid levels, which may reflect the normalization of lipids due to their inflammatory-dampening effects. However, these confou

SUBMITTER: Choy E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4241890 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature