Association of serum concentrations of remnant cholesterol with incident cardiovascular disease in patients with...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Rheumatology
• Lipid Metabolism

Background:

• Remnant cholesterol (RC) is a known cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor in the general population.
• The association between RC and CVD risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between circulating remnant cholesterol (RC) levels and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Chinese patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Main Methods:

• A prospective cohort study followed 1018 RA patients without baseline CVD from 2001 to 2022.
• Fasting serum lipid levels were measured; RC and non-HDL-C were calculated.
• A LASSO Cox model selected covariates, and a Fine-Gray competing risk model estimated hazard ratios (HRs).

Main Results:

• Over a median follow-up of 5.54 years, 131 RA patients developed CVD (incidence rate: 21.6 per 1000 person-years).
• Elevated RC levels, both continuous and quartile-categorized, were significantly associated with incident CVD (P < 0.001) after adjustments.
• Other lipids showed no robust association with incident CVD.

Conclusions:

• Circulating RC levels are independently associated with increased incident CVD risk in Chinese RA patients.
• RC may serve as a clinically useful marker for enhancing CVD risk stratification in RA patients.
• These findings highlight the importance of monitoring RC in RA management to mitigate cardiovascular risks.