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Inflammatory arthritis

Do statins offer therapeutic potential in inflammatory arthritis?

I B McInnes, D W McCarey, N Sattar

Centre for Rheumatic Diseases and Department of Vascular Biochemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow G31 2ER, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor I B McInnes
ibmi1w@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

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Statins may reduce inflammation and modify vascular risk

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Keywords: statins; inflammatory arthritis

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with accelerated vascular risk with attendant early mortality (pooled standardised mortality rate 1.7) and excess morbidity.¹ Optimal treatment of RA disease activity should therefore reasonably deal with vascular risk modification in addition to the well recognised objectives of treatment—namely, to suppress inflammation, improve function, prevent articular damage, and modify psychosocial implications of disease. Intriguingly, vascular specialists are now exercised with the realisation that inflammation is central to the pathogenesis of atherogenesis. Striking similarities in the atherogenic lesion in the vessel have been drawn with the chronic synovitis characteristic of RA, particularly to plaque structure and the role of extracellular matrix degradation in subsequent rupture. That said, vascular inflammation is not reflected in the same degree of local tissue destruction, nor the sustained substantial increase in the acute phase response as in RA, but rather with a lower grade chronic inflammatory response relying on . . . [Full text of this article]

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Therapeutic potential of statins in rheumatic diseases

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