Common involvement of inflammation can account in part for the strong association between rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Statins have both lipid-modifying and anti-inflammatory effects and are established in the general prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease; their role in rheumatoid arthritis, however, is only more recently being explored.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Toms, T. E. et al. Statin use in rheumatoid arthritis in relation to actual cardiovascular risk: evidence for substantial under treatment of lipid associated cardiovascular risk? Ann. Rheum. Dis. doi:10.1136/ard.2009.115717.
Heart Protection Study Collaborative Group. MRC/BHF Heart Protection Study of cholesterol lowering with simvastatin in 20536 high-risk individuals: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 360, 7–22 (2002).
Charles-Schoeman, C. et al. Effects of high-dose atorvastatin on anti-inflammatory properties of high density lipoprotein in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study. J. Rheumatol. 34, 1459–1464 (2007).
Ridker, P. M., Hennekens, C. H., Buring, J. E. & Rifai, N. C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation in the prediction of cardiovascular disease in women. N. Engl. J. Med. 342, 836–843 (2000).
Ridker, P. M. et al. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. N. Engl. J. Med. 359, 2195–2207 (2008).
Szekanecz, Z., Kerekes, G. & Soltesz, P. Vascular effects of biologic agents in RA and spondyloarthropathies. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 5, 677–684 (2009).
McCarey, D. W. et al. Trial of Atorvastatin in Rheumatoid Arthritis (TARA): double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 363, 2015–2021 (2004).
Colhoun, H. M. et al. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with atorvastatin in type 2 diabetes in the Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study (CARDS): multicentre randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 364, 685–696 (2004).
Choudhury, R. P. & Fisher, E. A. Molecular imaging in atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular inflammation. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 29, 983–991 (2009).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, J., Choudhury, R. RA—lowering cardiovascular risk with statins. Nat Rev Rheumatol 6, 123–124 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2010.18
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2010.18