The study was designed to explore the effect of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on synovial inflammation as well as on atherosclerotic indices in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
The study included 35 early RA patients (disease duration <12 months). Inflammatory variables, like erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were measured. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and endothelial dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation (ED-FMD) were measured by high-resolution ultrasonography. Disease activity of RA was assessed by disease activity score (DAS28) and quality of life was determined by Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) Score. All the above parameters were assessed both at baseline and follow-up after 1 year. Patients were treated with methotrexate (MTX), hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ) and sulfasalazine (SSZ) depending on their disease activity.
After a year of treatment, variables like ESR, hsCRP, DAS28 and HAQ-DI showed significant improvement (p < 0.0001 for each variable). However, there was no such significant change observed in the lipid profile after 1 year from the baseline. Average body mass index (BMI) of patients remained same at the one year follow-up. The cIMT values after 1 year decreased significantly [0.43 ± 0.08mm] from the baseline [0.50 ± 0.16mm] [p = 0.002]. Similarly, in case of FMD%, the post-1-year treatment values [7.57 (4.04-13.03)] improved significantly from the baseline [5.26 (2.9-10.6)] [p = 0.041].
Subclinical atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction are demonstrable features even in early RA which improved after therapy. Early intervention of RA with DMARDs not only controls the disease but also retards the atherosclerotic progression.