scholarly journals Protective Effects of Hydroxychloroquine against Accelerated Atherosclerosis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Floris ◽  
Matteo Piga ◽  
Arduino Aleksander Mangoni ◽  
Alessandra Bortoluzzi ◽  
Gian Luca Erre ◽  
...  

Cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality are a challenge in management of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Higher risk of CV disease in SLE patients is mostly related to accelerated atherosclerosis. Nevertheless, high prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in SLE patients does not fully explain the increased CV risk. Despite the pathological bases of accelerated atherosclerosis are not fully understood, it is thought that this process is driven by the complex interplay between SLE and atherosclerosis pathogenesis. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a cornerstone in treatment of SLE patients and has been thought to exert a broad spectrum of beneficial effects on disease activity, prevention of damage accrual, and mortality. Furthermore, HCQ is thought to protect against accelerated atherosclerosis targeting toll-like receptor signaling, cytokine production, T-cell and monocyte activation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction. HCQ was also described to have beneficial effects on traditional CV risk factors, such as dyslipidemia and diabetes. In conclusion, despite lacking randomized controlled trials unambiguously proving the protection of HCQ against accelerated atherosclerosis and incidence of CV events in SLE patients, evidence analyzed in this review is in favor of its beneficial effect.

2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1019-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel F Ugarte-Gil ◽  
Eduardo Acevedo-Vásquez ◽  
Graciela S Alarcón ◽  
Cesar A Pastor-Asurza ◽  
José L Alfaro-Lozano ◽  
...  

PurposeTo determine the association between the number of flares systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients experience and damage accrual, independently of other known risk factors.MethodsSLE patients (34 centres, nine Latin American countries) with a recent diagnosis (≤2 years) and ≥3 evaluations were studied. Disease activity was ascertained with the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and damage with the SLICC/ACR Damage Index (SDI). Flare was defined as an increase ≥4 points in the SLEDAI between two study visits. An ambidirectional case- crossover design was used to determine the association between the number of flares and damage accrual.Results901 patients were eligible for the study; 500 of them (55.5%) experienced at least one flare, being the mean number of flares 0.9 (SD: 1.0). 574 intervals from 251 patients were included in the case-crossover design since they have case and control intervals, whereas, the remaining patients did not. Their mean age at diagnosis was 27.9 years (SD: 11.1), 213 (84.9%) were women. The mean baseline SDI and SLEDAI were 1.3 (1.3) and 13.6 (8.1), respectively. Other features were comparable to those of the entire sample. After adjusting for possible confounding variables, the number of flares, regardless of their severity, was associated with damage accrual (SDI) OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.43 to 2.94, p<0.001 (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.31 to 5.24, p=0.006 for severe and OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.83, p=0.001for mild-moderate).ConclusionsThe number of flares patients experience, regardless of their severity, increases the risk of damage accrual, independently of other known risk factors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Pocovi-Gerardino ◽  
Maria Correa-Rodríguez ◽  
José-Luis Callejas Rubio ◽  
Raquel Ríos Fernández ◽  
María Martín Amada ◽  
...  

Chronic inflammation coupled with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors influences the progression of atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and homocysteine (Hcy) are associated with the risk of CVD in the general population, but their associations with CV risk and disease activity in SLE are unclear. In this cross-sectional study ( N = 139 SLE patients, mean age = 45.27 ± 13.18 years), we investigated associations between hs-CRP and Hcy levels and disease activity, damage accrual, and CVD risk in SLE. Disease activity and damage accrual were measured with the SLE Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K), the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics Group/American College of Rheumatology damage index (SDI), and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies (anti-dsDNA). CVD risk factors of obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, blood lipids, and ankle–brachial index were collected. Linear regression analysis and one-way analysis of variance were used to analyze relationships of hs-CRP and Hcy with SLE activity, damage accrual, and CVD risk factors. Results: hs-CRP correlated significantly with SLEDAI-2K ( p = .036), SDI ( p = .00), anti-dsDNA titers ( p = .034), diabetes ( p = .005), and obesity ( p = .027). hs-CRP and Hcy correlated with triglyceride (TG) levels ( p = .032 and p < .001, respectively), TG/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol index ( p = .020 and p = .001, respectively), and atherogenic index of plasma ( p = .006 and p = .016, respectively). hs-CRP levels >3 mg/L correlated with SDI score ( p = .012) and several CVD risk factors. Discussion: Findings suggest SLE patients with elevated hs-CRP and/or Hcy have a higher prevalence of CVD risk factors.


2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 2331-2337 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Esdaile ◽  
Michal Abrahamowicz ◽  
Tamara Grodzicky ◽  
Yin Li ◽  
Constantina Panaritis ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edoardo Sciatti ◽  
Ilaria Cavazzana ◽  
Enrico Vizzardi ◽  
Ivano Bonadei ◽  
Micaela Fredi ◽  
...  

Background: Accelerated atherosclerosis, responsible for premature cardiovascular disease, has been estimated to develop or progress in 10% of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients each year and to be 6-fold more frequent in SLE compared with the general population. The mechanisms underlying accelerated atherosclerosis in SLE are complex and involve classical and “non-classical” cardiovascular risk factors. Subclinical and disseminated atherosclerosis is associated with endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness. Objective: The aim of this review is to analyze the association between SLE and endothelial dysfunction. Results and Conclusion: Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain the prevalence of endothelial dysfunction in SLE, which are briefly reported in this review: impaired clearance of apoptotic cells, oxidative stress markers, B cell activation with different circulating autoantibodies, different subtypes of T lymphocytes, cytokine cascade. Several studies and meta-analyses show a significant trend towards a prevalence of subclinical accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with SLE compared with healthy controls, since childhood. Based on general considerations, we suggest a multidisciplinary management to assess endothelial dysfunction at the diagnosis of the disease and to periodically search for and treat the traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Prospective studies are needed to confirm the benefits of this management.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Correa-Rodríguez ◽  
Gabriela Pocovi-Gerardino ◽  
José-Luis Callejas Rubio ◽  
Raquel Ríos Fernández ◽  
María Martín Amada ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1182.3-1183
Author(s):  
M. Correa Rodríguez ◽  
G. Pocovi-Gerardino ◽  
J. L. Callejas-Rubio ◽  
R. Ríos Fernández ◽  
S. Delolmo-Romero ◽  
...  

Background:Osteoporosis is a common comorbidity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Available evidence showed that autoimmunity and associated inflammation play main effect in the pathogenesis of negative skeletal effects in SLE patients. However, the potential contribution of disease-associated factors to bone status in SLE is not well known since the reported risk factors from different studies differ greatly.Objectives:The aim of this study was to examine frequency of reduced bone mass in SLE women, and determine their potential associations with disease activity, damage accrual and SLE-related clinical markers.Methods:A cross-sectional study including a total 121 Caucasian pre-menopausal and postmenopausal women was conducted (mean age 49.29±12.43 years). The SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI-2K) and the SDI Damage Index were used to asses disease activity and disease-related damage, respectively. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the left femoral neck and lumbar spine (L2–L4) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Hologic QDR 400).Results:Ten patients (8.3%) had osteoporosis, 63 (52.1%) patients had osteopenia and 6.8% of women had history of previous fracture. Patients with low bone mass had a significantly higher mean SDI (1.36±1.26 versus 0.70±1.09 p=0.003). T-score at lumbar spine was inversely correlated with SDI score (r=-0.222, p=0.014) and complement C3 level (r=-0.206, p=0.024). Results of bivariate correlations showed that T-score at lumbar spine was inversely correlated with SDI score (r=-0.222, p=0.014) and complement C3 level (r=-0.206, p=0.024). SDI scores were significantly different between patients with osteoporosis, osteopenia and normal BMD after adjusting for age, menstrual status, BMI, time since diagnosis and corticoid use (p=0.004).Conclusion:There is a high prevalence of low BMD in Caucasian women with SLE and this status of osteopenia/osteoporosis was associated with higher damage accrual scores, supporting that disease damage may itself be a major contributor to the low BMD. SLE women with organ damage require regular bone status monitoring to prevent further musculoskeletal damage. Since diminished BMD is a main comorbidity it is therefore essential to study, monitor and prevent osteoporosis in SLE women to avoid fractures leading to reduced quality of life.References:[1]Wang X, Yan S, Liu C, Xu Y, Wan L, Wang Y, et al. Fracture risk and bone mineral density levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Osteoporos Int 2016;27:1413–23.[2]Mendoza-Pinto C, Rojas-Villarraga A, Molano-Gonzalez N, Jimenez-Herrera EA, De La Luz Leon-Vazquez M, Montiel-Jarquõn A, et al. Bone mineral density and vertebral fractures in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: A systematic review and meta-regression. PLoS One 2018;13:1–15.[3]Xia J, Luo R, Guo S, Yang Y, Ge S, Xu G, et al. Prevalence and Risk Factors of Reduced Bone Mineral Density in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients: A Meta-Analysis. Biomed Res Int 2019;2019.[4]Carli L, Tani C, Spera V, Vagelli R, Vagnani S, Mazzantini M, et al. Risk factors for osteoporosis and fragility fractures in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus Sci Med 2016;3:1–5.Acknowledgements:This research was supported by the grant PI0523-2016 from “Consejería de igualdad, salud y políticas sociales” (Junta de Andalucía) and is part of the research group LyDIMED “Lupus y Dieta Mediterránea”.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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