Disease Activity in Spondyloarthropathy: Does it affect Vascular Health?

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology and Cardiology
• Vascular Biology
• Inflammatory Diseases

Background:

• Chronic inflammation in spondyloarthropathy (SpA) accelerates atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• Endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerosis, detected by flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), are key contributors to CVD.
• Assessing these markers in SpA is crucial for understanding CVD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between disease activity in SpA and surrogate markers of CVD.
• To compare FMD and cIMT in SpA patients versus healthy controls.
• To determine if SpA disease activity correlates with endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 50 Axial SpA patients (<5 years disease duration) and 50 matched controls without CV risk factors.
• Performed ultrasound assessment of brachial artery FMD and common carotid artery cIMT.
• Compared measurements between groups using Student's t test and evaluated associations with Pearson/Spearman's correlation.

Main Results:

• SpA patients exhibited significantly impaired FMD (4.9±1.4% vs. 8.7±1.6%) and increased cIMT (0.52±0.04 mm vs. 0.44±0.11 mm) compared to controls (p<0.05).
• No significant differences were observed in age, BMI, blood pressure, or lipid profiles between groups.
• Higher disease activity in SpA was associated with poorer FMD and greater cIMT.

Conclusions:

• Flow-mediated vasodilation and carotid intima-media thickness are compromised in patients with SpA.
• Increased SpA disease activity is linked to impaired FMD and cIMT, suggesting a direct relationship between inflammation and vascular dysfunction.
• Further prospective studies with larger cohorts are needed to confirm these findings.