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Impact of short-term therapies with biologics on prothrombotic biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis


T. Jin, M. Bokarewa, S. Amu, A. Tarkowski

 

CER3570
2009 Vol.27, N°3
PI 0491, PF 0494
Brief Papers

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PMID: 19604443 [PubMed]

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Imbalance of haemostasis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) contributes to future risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Prothrombotic molecules, e.g. fibrinogen, D-dimer, and tPA are elevated in plasma of RA patients, being associated to CVD. There is no imformation about the influence of biological drugs, e.g. anti-CD20 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antibodies on these prothrombotic molecules. OBJECTIVES:
To assess whether anti-TNF and anti-CD20 therapies modify the profiles of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with RA.
METHODS:
The expression of prothrombotic molecules in plasma was investigated in 10 RA patients before and after treatment with TNF-alpha antibodies and in another 12 RA patients before and after anti-CD20 treatment.
RESULTS:
Both anti-TNF and anti-CD20 infusions gave rise to clear clinical improvement. However, only anti-CD20 infusion significantly (p=0.05) reduced concentration of fibrinogen (p=0.05), D-dimer (p<0.001), as well as tPA levels (p<0.01). In contrast, in TNF antibody treated patients only tPA levels were significantly decreased following the treatment (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS:
Infusion of CD20 antibodies to the patients with active RA led to a clearly reduced plasma levels of predictors of CVD indicating that this treatment, apart from its anti-inflammatory properties, may reduce the risk for future CVD in RA.

Rheumatology Article