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An Immunohistopathologic Study to Profile the Folate Receptor Beta Macrophage and Vascular Immune Microenvironment in Giant Cell Arteritis
Published on: February 8, 2019
Cardiovascular drug treatment, statins and biopsy-confirmed giant cell arteritis: a population-based case-control
Aleksandra Turkiewicz1, Pavlos Stamatis2,3, Aladdin J Mohammad4,5
1Clinical Sciences, Lund, Orthopedics, Lunds University Faculty of Medicine, Lund, Sweden.
Insights
This study found that statins may reduce the risk of giant cell arteritis (GCA). Other cardiovascular medications showed no association with GCA risk.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Epidemiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic vasculitis affecting large arteries.
- Understanding potential risk factors, including medication use, is crucial for GCA prevention and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between exposure to cardiovascular medications, including statins, and the risk of developing biopsy-confirmed GCA.
Main Methods:
- A population-based case-control study using the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register.
- Included 574 GCA cases and 5740 matched controls, analyzing drug exposure prior to diagnosis.
- Conditional logistic regression adjusted for socioeconomic factors was employed.
Main Results:
- Statins were consistently associated with a lower risk of GCA (OR 0.74; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.90).
- No significant association was observed between other studied cardiovascular drugs and GCA risk.
- Analyses of new drug users showed results close to 1 for most medications.
Conclusions:
- Statins may be associated with a reduced risk of incident biopsy-confirmed GCA.
- No link was found between other investigated cardiovascular drugs and GCA incidence.
Objective:
To determine whether exposure to cardiovascular medications and statins is associated with increased risk of giant cell arteritis (GCA).
Design:
The population-based case-control study comprised a cohort of patients with biopsy-confirmed GCA linked to the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register to identify all exposure to drugs prior to diagnosis of GCA. Ten controls per GCA case, matched for age, sex and residential area, were included. Using corresponding Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, beta-blocking agents, calcium antagonists, diuretics, statins and cardiac therapy drugs were investigated from July 1, 2005 to the diagnosis/index date. A conditional logistic regression model was fitted adjusted for income, education level and marital status. We repeated the analyses including only new drug users excluding those with any prescription during the year from July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2006.
Results:
574 cases (29% men) of diagnosed GCA and 5740 controls (29% men) were included. The mean age at diagnosis is 75 years (SD 8). Of the GCA cases, 71% had at least one dispensation of a cardiovascular drug prior to the index date, compared to 74% of controls. The ORs for the association of target drug exposure with GCA were <1 for most drugs, but close to 1 in the analysis of new users. Statins were consistently associated with lower risk of GCA, OR 0.74 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.90).
Conclusion:
Statins may be associated with lower risk of incident biopsy-confirmed GCA. No association was evident for other studied drugs.
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