Lipids and Atherogenic Indices Fluctuation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients on Long-Term Tocilizumab Treatment.

ABSTRACT: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are at high risk of cardiovascular (CV) events, and the chronic inflammatory state may generate quantitative and qualitative changes in lipoprotein fractions. The anti-IL-6 receptor tocilizumab (TCZ), even if effective in inflammation and joint damage prevention, determined significant alterations to RA patients' lipid levels in randomized controlled trials, but real-world data are lacking. We evaluated the changes in lipid fraction levels and disease activity in a longitudinal cohort of RA patients on long-term treatment with tocilizumab (TCZ) in a community setting. We retrospectively selected 40 naïve-biologic RA patients on treatment with intravenous TCZ compared to 20 RA patients on methotrexate treatment as the control group. Total cholesterol (Tot-

SUBMITTER: Cacciapaglia F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6204176 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature