Efficacy of Colchicine in the Treatment of Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: A Mini-Review.

PURPOSE

This review of colchicine, an effective anti-inflammatory agent, examines whether the reduction in ischemic events produced by colchicine translates to a reduction in mortality, the optimal duration of treatment, and the patient populations that benefits the most from colchicine treatment.

METHODS

We performed a comprehensive PubMed database search using the key words colchicine and coronary heart disease on August 23, 2021. We also screened the included reference list of manuscripts.

FINDINGS

Colchicine's role in the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease has been the focus of recent large-scale randomized controlled trials in chronic coronary syndrome (ie, the Low-Dose Colchicine and Low-Dose Colchicine 2 trials), acute myocardial infarction (the Colchicine Cardiovascular Outcomes Trial and Colchicine in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome trial), and after percutaneous coronary intervention (the Colchicine-Percutaneous Coronary Intervention trial).

IMPLICATIONS

Current evidence suggests that low-dose colchicine (0.5 mg once a day) reduces the risk of cardiovascular events among patients with acute myocardial infarction or chronic coronary syndrome. Colchicine has the potential to become a new standard therapy for the prevention of coronary artery disease-related atherothrombotic events because it is effective and cost-efficient and has a well-tolerated safety profile.