Panagiota Anyfanti1, Areti Triantafyllou1, Eugenia Gkaliagkousi1, Nikolaos Koletsos1, Georgios Athanasopoulos2, Xenophon Zabulis3, Vasiliki Galanopoulou4, Spyros Aslanidis5, Stella Douma1. 1. 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. 2. Ophthalmology Department, AHEPA University Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. 3. Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece. 4. Rheumatology Department, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. 5. Rheumatology Department-2nd Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Quantification of retinal vessel morphology has emerged as a marker of cardiovascular health. We examined retinal microvascular diameters in RA, particularly in regard to systemic inflammation, subclinical atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Retinal images from RA patients and controls were processed using computerized software, to obtain CRAE and CRVE and AVR. Subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed with cIMT, and 10-year risk of general cardiovascular disease was calculated. RESULTS: Both CRAE (78.8 ± 8.9 vs 90.2 ± 9.9 μm, P < .001) and AVR (0.69 ± 0.09 vs 0.81 ± 0.09, P < .001) were decreased in RA patients (n = 87) compared to controls (n = 46), whereas CRVE did not differ. Among RA patients, CRAE and AVR were inversely associated with both cIMT and CRP, whereas CRVE positively correlated with CRP (P < .05 for all). CRAE additionally correlated with cardiovascular risk score (r = -.396, P = .001). In the multivariate analysis, cardiovascular risk was associated with CRAE; age with CRVE, while CRP independently predicted AVR. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows altered retinal microvascular morphology in RA patients. Inflammation appears as the biological link for the observed association between retinal microvascular abnormalities and subclinical atherosclerosis. Retinal arteriolar narrowing might play its own role in cardiovascular risk prediction in RA.
OBJECTIVE: Quantification of retinal vessel morphology has emerged as a marker of cardiovascular health. We examined retinal microvascular diameters in RA, particularly in regard to systemic inflammation, subclinical atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Retinal images from RApatients and controls were processed using computerized software, to obtain CRAE and CRVE and AVR. Subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed with cIMT, and 10-year risk of general cardiovascular disease was calculated. RESULTS: Both CRAE (78.8 ± 8.9 vs 90.2 ± 9.9 μm, P < .001) and AVR (0.69 ± 0.09 vs 0.81 ± 0.09, P < .001) were decreased in RApatients (n = 87) compared to controls (n = 46), whereas CRVE did not differ. Among RApatients, CRAE and AVR were inversely associated with both cIMT and CRP, whereas CRVE positively correlated with CRP (P < .05 for all). CRAE additionally correlated with cardiovascular risk score (r = -.396, P = .001). In the multivariate analysis, cardiovascular risk was associated with CRAE; age with CRVE, while CRP independently predicted AVR. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows altered retinal microvascular morphology in RApatients. Inflammation appears as the biological link for the observed association between retinal microvascular abnormalities and subclinical atherosclerosis. Retinal arteriolar narrowing might play its own role in cardiovascular risk prediction in RA.
Authors: Leen J Luyten; Yinthe Dockx; Narjes Madhloum; Hanne Sleurs; Nele Gerrits; Bram G Janssen; Kristof Y Neven; Michelle Plusquin; Eline B Provost; Patrick De Boever; Tim S Nawrot Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2020-07-01
Authors: Panagiota Anyfanti; Athanasia Dara; Elena Angeloudi; Eleni Bekiari; Theodoros Dimitroulas; George D Kitas Journal: J Inflamm Res Date: 2021-12-14