Overview of Link Between Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Cardiovascular Disease

Inflammation has been shown to play an increasingly important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and in precipitating thrombotic events. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a systemic inflammatory disorder with a wide range of extraintestinal manifestations including a clinically significant increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism compared to matched controls in several studies. The data for the association between IBD and ischemic heart disease are less clear; multiple population-based studies have shown both positive and negative associations between the 2 conditions. While the systemic inflammation should theoretically increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel also potentially provides a cardioprotective effect in several ways. Patients with IBD typically enter the healthcare system at an earlier age and experience a lower incidence of obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperlipidemia. Given the complex interplay among the proatherogenic, prothrombogenic, and cardioprotective effects, IBD should be taken into consideration as a nontraditional risk factor for cardiovascular disease in specific subsets of patients.