Dataset Information

Marked QTc Prolongation and Torsades de pointes in Patients with Chronic Inflammatory Arthritis.

ABSTRACT: Mounting evidence indicates that in chronic inflammatory arthritis (CIA), QTc prolongation is frequent and correlates with systemic inflammatory activation. Notably, basic studies demonstrated that inflammatory cytokines induce profound changes in potassium and calcium channels resulting in a prolonging effect on cardiomyocyte action potential duration, thus on the QT interval on the electrocardiogram. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, the risk of sudden cardiac death is significantly increased when compared to non-RA subjects. Conversely, to date no data are available about torsades de pointes (TdP) prevalence in CIA, and the few cases reported considered CIA only an incidental concomitant disease, not contributing factor to TdP development. We report three patients with active CIA developing marked QTc prolongation, in two cases complicated with TdP degenerating to cardiac arrest. In these patients, a blood sample was obtained within 24?h from TdP/marked QTc prolongation occurrence, and levels of IL-6, TNF?, and IL-1 were evaluated. In all three cases, IL-6 was markedly elevated, ~10 to 100 times more than reference values. Moreover, one patient also showed high circulating levels of TNF? and IL-1. In conclusion, active CIA may represent a currently overlooked QT-prolonging risk factor, potentially contributing in the presence of other "classical" risk factors to TdP occurrence. In particular, a relevant role may be played by elevated circulating IL-6 levels via direct electrophysiological effects on the heart. This fact should be carefully kept in mind, particularly when recognizable risk factors are already present and/or the addition of QT-prolonging drugs is required.

SUBMITTER: Lazzerini PE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5029147 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Marked QTc Prolongation and Torsades de pointes in Patients with Chronic Inflammatory Arthritis.

Lazzerini Pietro Enea PE Capecchi Pier Leopoldo PL Bertolozzi Iacopo I Morozzi Gabriella G Lorenzini Sauro S Simpatico Antonella A Selvi Enrico E Bacarelli Maria Romana MR Acampa Maurizio M Lazaro Deana D El-Sherif Nabil N Boutjdir Mohamed M Laghi-Pasini Franco F

Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine 20160921

Mounting evidence indicates that in chronic inflammatory arthritis (CIA), QTc prolongation is frequent and correlates with systemic inflammatory activation. Notably, basic studies demonstrated that inflammatory cytokines induce profound changes in potassium and calcium channels resulting in a prolonging effect on cardiomyocyte action potential duration, thus on the QT interval on the electrocardiogram. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, the risk of sud ...[more]

PMID: 27703966

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background Systemic inflammation and male hypogonadism are 2 increasingly recognized "nonconventional" risk factors for long-QT syndrome and torsades de pointes (TdP). Specifically, inflammatory cytokines prolong, while testosterone shortens the heart rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) via direct electrophysiological effects on cardiomyocytes. Moreover, several studies demonstrated important interplays between inflammation and reduced gonad function in men. We hypothesized that, during inflammatory activation in men, testosterone levels decrease and that this enhances TdP risk by contributing to the overall prolonging effect of inflammation on QTc. Methods and Results We investigated (1) the levels of sex hormones and their relationship with inflammatory markers and QTc in male patients with different types of inflammatory diseases, during active phase and recovery; and (2) the association between inflammatory markers and sex hormones in a cohort of male patients who developed extreme QTc prolongation and TdP, consecutively collected over 10 years. In men with active inflammatory diseases, testosterone levels were significantly reduced, but promptly normalized in association with the decrease in C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels. Reduction of testosterone levels, which also inversely correlated with 17-β estradiol over time, significantly contributed to inflammation-induced QTc prolongation. In men with TdP, both active systemic inflammation and hypogonadism were frequently present, with significant correlations between C-reactive protein, testosterone, and 17-β estradiol levels; in these patients, increased C-reactive protein and reduced testosterone were associated with a worse short-term outcome of the arrhythmia. Conclusions During systemic inflammatory activation, interleukin-6 elevation is associated with reduced testosterone levels in males, possibly deriving from an enhanced androgen-to-estrogen conversion. While transient, inflammatory hypotestosteronemia is significantly associated with an increased long-QT syndrome/TdP risk in men.

Dataset Information

Marked QTc Prolongation and Torsades de pointes in Patients with Chronic Inflammatory Arthritis.

Publications

Marked QTc Prolongation and Torsades de pointes in Patients with Chronic Inflammatory Arthritis.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets