In RA, Immunosuppressant Can Lower Cardiovascular Event Risk

Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who continuously use methotrexate have a 20% decrease in risk for cardiovascular events, according to a new study.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed data on 23,994 participants who were diagnosed with RA after aged 65 years.

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The researchers evaluated the association between methotrexate and cardiovascular events by comparing the amount of time the participants used the drug with the amount of time until a participant experienced a cardiovascular event.

Over 115,453 patient-years, 3294 (13.7%) participants experienced a cardiovascular event.

Participants who had increased their recent methotrexate intake had a lower cardiovascular event risk (a hazard ratio of 0.79 for continuous use vs no use in past year).

Greater methotrexate use in the first year of cohort entry was important in the association between the immunosuppressant and the risk for a cardiovascular event.

Further, greater methotrexate use in the first year after cohort entry showed a protective effect. However, the effect decreased with increasing follow-up.

No clear association between methotrexate use during the entire follow-up and cardiovascular event risk was found.

—Colleen Murphy

Reference:

Widdifield J, Abrahamowicz M, Paterson JM, et al. Associations between methotrexate use and the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis [published online December 1, 2018]. J Rheumatol. https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.180427.