Colchicine for Secondary Prevention of Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Colchicine has become prominent as an anti-inflammatory therapy for secondary cardiovascular prevention in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of colchicine in patients with CAD.

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compare major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) between patients with CAD randomised to colchicine versus placebo (or no colchicine) were included. Random effect risk ratios (RRs) were calculated for clinical outcomes.

A total of 12,071 patients in seven RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with placebo or no colchicine, colchicine was associated with a significantly lower incidence of MACEs (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.51-0.80, p<0.01). The reduction in MACEs in the colchicine group was driven by statistically significant reductions in the incidence of myocardial ischaemia (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.58-0.95, p=0.02), coronary revascularisation (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.89, p=0.01), and stroke (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.28-0.83, p=0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference for cardiovascular death (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.55-1.22, p=0.33). All-cause and non-cardiovascular mortality, gastrointestinal events, infection, and cancer were not significantly different between the colchicine and control groups.

Colchicine is a reasonably efficacious and safe drug that could be successfully utilised for the secondary prevention of CAD.