Inflammation and atherosclerosis: Cardiovascular evaluation in patients with autoimmune diseases

Evidence now indicates that inflammation contributes considerably to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and active inflammatory processes may trigger plaque rupture and enhance the risk of coronary thrombosis leading to a clinical ischemic event. Interest in characterizing inflammatory markers that predict clinical events have dominated clinical investigation. Such markers include C-reactive protein, Fibrinogen and a number of interleukins. Human macrophages avidly phagocytize cholesterol crystals. These cholesterol crystals induce a dose-dependent secretion of mature Interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β) from human monocytes and macrophages (an NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pathway). Since IL-1β production leads to increased levels of IL-6 and C-reactive protein, this could be a mechanistic link between early deposition of cholesterol crystals within the vessel wall to the macrophage-monocyte interactions that initiate fatty streaks and promote local atherosclerotic progression. We have entered a time where a pure anti-inflammatory drug without significant effects on lipids or any other traditional cardiovascular risk factor decreased cardiovascular events. Patients with autoimmune diseases are at increase cardiovascular risk. In this review we describe the link between inflammation and atherosclerosis. Furthermore we explore the data regarding primary prevention, cardiac imaging for risk stratification and the implications of targeting inflammation in patients with autoimmune disease.