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Total cholesterol and LDL levels decrease before rheumatoid arthritis
Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, 11/10/09

Myasoedova E et al. – TCh and LDL levels and the prevalence of abnormal TCh or LDL measures decreased significantly during the 5 years before RA incidence/index date in RA patients as compared to non-RA cohort. These trends in lipid profile in RA are unlikely to be solely due to lipid-lowering therapy

Methods

Lipid measures abstracted in population-based incident cohort of RA patients (1987 ACR criteria) first diagnosed between 1/1/1988 and 1/1/2008 and non-RA subjects
Random effects models adjusting for age, sex and calendar year used to examine trends in lipid profiles, accounting for multiple measurements per subject

Results

Cohort of 577 RA patients (a total of 3,088 lipid measurements)
540 non-RA subjects (a total of 3,048 lipid measurements)
Significant decreases in TCh and LDL levels in RA cohort during the 5 years before RA, compared to non-RA cohort
Trends in other lipid measures (triglycerides and HDL) similar in RA and non-RA cohorts during 5 years before and 5 years after RA incidence/index date
During 5 years before RA incidence/index date, proportion of RA patients elevated TCh or LDL measures, but not with abnormal HDL and TG measures, significantly decreased compared to non-RA subjects
Lipid-lowering drugs (statins in particular) less often prescribed to RA patients than non-RA subjects