Antirheumatic drugs for cardiovascular disease prevention: the case for colchicine
Ronald F van Vollenhoven,
Maarten Boers,
Willem Lems,
Mike Nurmohamed
Affiliations
Ronald F van Vollenhoven
Rheumatology, Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
Maarten Boers
3 Department of Epidemiology & Data Science; and Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Willem Lems
Rheumatology, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mike Nurmohamed
Rheumatology, Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
We summarised four pivotal Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) with antirheumatic drugs on the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. The favourable effects of canakinumab and colchicine confirm (low-grade) inflammation as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. While colchicine might be the first drug in the clinic, we expect that this is only the first in a future series of anti-inflammatory drugs used in secondary prevention of cardiovascular events.
