The effects of glucocorticoid treatment on cardiovascular system in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Dominika Blachut
, Brygida Przywara-Chowaniec, Jan Harpula, Andrzej Tomasik, Ewa Nowalany-Kozielska, Beata Morawiec
2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Zabrze, Poland
Keywords: Ankle-brachial index, carotid intima-media thickness, heart disease risk factors, Systemic lupus erythematosus, vascular stiffness.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to assess variables concerning arterial stiffness including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, carotid-radial pulse wave velocity, ankle-brachial index, and the advancement of atherosclerosis development.
Patients and methods: Between October 2016 and December 2020, a total of 43 consecutive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (4 males, 39 females; mean age: 57±8 years; range, 42 to 65 years) were prospectively included in the study. All data were compared between the group treated with glucocorticoids and that not treated with these agents.
Results: The study group consisted of 43 patients with SLE, while 22 (51%) patients were treated with glucocorticoids. The mean duration of SLE was 12.3±5.3 years. Patients treated with glucocorticoids had lower values of ankle-brachial index compared to those who were not treated with glucocorticoids (p=0.041), although the values were within the range. A similar situation was reported for the carotid-femoral artery pulse wave velocity (p=0.032). However, carotid-radial artery pulse wave velocity was not significantly different between both groups (p=0.12).
Conclusion: Properly selected therapy is important in the prevention of CVD.
Citation: Blachut D, Przywara-Chowaniec B, Harpula J, Tomasik A, Nowalany-Kozielska E, Morawiec B. The effects of glucocorticoid treatment on cardiovascular system in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Arch Rheumatol 2022;37(4):495-503.
The study protocol was approved by the Medical University of Silesia Bioethics Committee (No: KNW/0022/KB1/111/17). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
A written informed consent was obtained from each patient.
Data Sharing Statement:
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Conceptualization: D.B., B.P-C., and B.M.; methodology: D.B., J.H.; software: J.H.; formal analysis: B.M.; writing-original draft preparation: D.B., J.H., B.P-C., and B.M.; writing-review and editing: E.N-K., A.T., and B.M.; visualization: D.B.; supervision: B.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.