Medications designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Parkinson’s disease have been associated with key cardiovascular benefits, according to two recent studies.
The studies were unrelated and published separately—one in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, the other in Hypertension—but they both resulted in positive findings for cardiovascular patients.
Rheumatoid arthritis medications lower heart disease risk
Researchers found that medications commonly prescribed for RA are associated with reductions in arterial inflammation, sharing their findings in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.[1]
The team’s analysis included 115 adult patients with moderate to severe RA. All patients were already taking methotrexate for their RA symptoms. The patients were randomized to either add a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept) or go on triple therapy (methotrexate plus sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine).
After six months, both the patients who added adalimumab or etanercept and the patients who went on triple therapy showed signs of reduced arterial inflammation.
“We were surprised to see that both of these powerful anti-inflammatory treatment strategies reduced heart disease risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” co-lead author Joan Bathon, MD, a professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in a prepared statement. “Doctors still need to pay attention to the usual heart disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity. But since inflammation—a key feature of RA—elevates cardiovascular risk even further, reducing inflammation by treating the arthritis is a novel mechanism to reduce heart disease risk in these patients.”
The full study is available here.
Parkinson’s disease medication improves blood pressure among adolescent patients with type 1 diabetes
A separate research team noted that bromocriptine, a medication commonly prescribed for Parkinson’s disease, can lower the blood pressure and improve the arterial health of patients with type 1 diabetes. The group shared its findings in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association.[2]
The group focused on 34 patients between the ages of 12 and 21 years old who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. All patients had a HbA1c of 12% or less. While 17 patients were treated with bromocriptine quick-release therapy, the other 17 patients were given a placebo. All patients would eventually be treated with both, however, due to the structure of the analysis. The study included an initial four-week treatment phase, a four-week “wash-out” period and then a second four-week treatment phase where all participants received the opposite treatment option.
Overall, bromocriptine was linked to consistent improvements in blood pressure compared to the placebo. Improvements in aortic stiffness were also seen in patients treated with bromocriptine, especially in the ascending aorta.
“We know that abnormalities in the large vessels around the heart, the aorta and its primary branches, begin to develop in early childhood in people with type 1 diabetes,” lead author Michal Schäfer, Ph.D., a researcher and fourth-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado, said in a prepared statement. “We found that bromocriptine has the potential to slow down the development of those abnormalities and decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease in this population.”
Schäfer et al. noted that the size of their study was quite small—larger trials are already being planned.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.