Division of Rheumatology, Istituto Ortopedico Gaetano Pini, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Milan, Italy.
Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2012 Sep;10(5):639-46. doi: 10.2174/157016112801784503.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory polyarthritis with increased mortality largely attributable to cardiovascular disease. There is extensive evidence that patients with RA experience accelerated atherosclerosis, which is considered as the main responsible of this increased cardiovascular burden. Nowadays atherosclerosis is regarded as an inflammatory condition: hence, the cumulative inflammation of RA, with the abundant synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines, contributes directly to the early formation of the atheromatic plaque. It is therefore reasonable to postulate that, by alleviating inflammation, drugs commonly used in RA treatment may ameliorate the cardiovascular profile of these patients. Here we provide an extensive review of the literature, focusing on the effects of the available anti-rheumatic agents on cardiovascular mortality, and morbidity among RA sufferers.
类风湿关节炎（RA）是一种慢性炎症性多关节炎，其死亡率增加主要归因于心血管疾病。有大量证据表明，RA 患者会经历动脉粥样硬化加速，这被认为是导致心血管负担增加的主要原因。如今，动脉粥样硬化被视为一种炎症状态：因此，RA 的累积炎症以及大量促炎细胞因子的合成，直接导致了动脉粥样斑块的早期形成。因此，可以合理地假设，通过减轻炎症，RA 治疗中常用的药物可能会改善这些患者的心血管状况。在这里，我们广泛回顾了文献，重点关注现有抗风湿药物对 RA 患者心血管死亡率和发病率的影响。
