Accelerated atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a highly prevalent, chronic inflammatory condition of the synovial joints that affects approximately 1% of the global population. The pathogenesis of RA is predominantly inflammatory in nature, thereby accelerating the co-occurrence of other immunoinflammatory conditions such as atherosclerosis. Apart from traditional cardiovascular risk factors, RA patients possess a multitude of other factors that predispose them to early atherosclerotic disease. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the prevalence of premature atherosclerosis in RA patients and elucidate the role that proinflammatory cytokines, RA-related autoantibodies, and endothelial dysfunction play in the pathophysiology of RA-mediated atherosclerosis. We also discussed novel biomarkers that can be used to predict early atherosclerosis in RA and current guidelines used to treat RA. Methods: This review followed the PRISMA guidelines to select and analyze relevant articles. A literature search for articles was performed on February 25, 2022, through three research databases including PubMed, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect. The query used to identify relevant publications was “Rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis” and the search duration was set from 2012-2022. Relevant articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Our initial search generated 21,235 articles. We narrowed our search according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After assessing eligibility based on the full content of the articles, 73 articles were ultimately chosen for this review. Conclusion: There is an increased prevalence of accelerated atherosclerosis among RA patients. We found evidence to explain the role of proinflammatory cytokines, RA-related autoantibodies, and endothelial dysfunction in the pathophysiology RA-mediated atherosclerosis. Therapies targeting either the inflammatory load or traditional CV risk-factors seem to improve vascular outcomes in RA patients. Novel markers of atherosclerosis in RA may be useful in predicting premature atherosclerosis and serve as new targets for therapeutic intervention.