Correlation of lipoproteins with Inflammatory Markers and the risk of cardiovascular events in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Case Control Study

Abstract

Nearly 1% of adults suffer with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic, systemic, inflammatory illness with unclear causes.Numerous researchers found that RA patients had an elevated rate of cardiovascular morbidity and death.Accelerated atherosclerosis is the main cause of cardiovascular mortality.Strong predictors of atherosclerotic events include increased plasma total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The relationship between blood lipoproteins, particularly total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and several inflammatory indicators, including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-Reactive protein (CRP), as well as the risk of cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis. The study's control group consisted of 50 RA patients who satisfied the American College of Rhematology's (ACR) 1987 criteria for rheumatoid arthritis and 50 volunteers who seemed to be in good health.Both the patients' and the control group's lipid profiles (TC,LDL-C,HDL-C), ESR, and C-reactive protein were assessed. When comparing rheumatoid arthritis patients to the control group, the linear regression analysis of CRP and ESR with the serum lipid profile revealed a statistically significant positive correlation (CRP: r=+0.084, p0.05, ESR: r=+0.082, p0.05) for TC and a significant negative correlation (CRP:r=-0.082, p0.05, ESR:r=-0.081, p0.05) for HDL. The linear regression analysis of CRP and ESR with the serum lipid profile showed a statistically significant positive correlation (CRP:r=+0.084, p0.05, ESR:r=+0.082, p0.05) for TC and a significant negative correlation (CRP:r=-0.082, p0.05, ESR:r=-0.081, p0.05) for HDL when comparing rheumatoid arthritis patients to the control group.