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Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and other inflammatory rheumatic diseases are
associated with a high rate of death from heart disease. One explanation is
a greater susceptibility to atherosclerosis. Although atherosclerosis is
linked to inflammation in healthy individuals as well, the mechanism of
inflammation and the reason for accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with
inflammatory rheumatic disease remain unclear. Does atherosclerosis result
from systemic inflammation, a hallmark of these rheumatic diseases, or from
local inflammation of vessels?

To shed light on the link between chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis,
a team of researchers in Norway and the United States, affiliated with the
Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston,
focused on the aortas of recent recipients of coronary artery bypass graft
(CABG) surgery, comparing biopsy specimens from patients with inflammatory
rheumatic disease to those from patients without it. Their study, presented
in the June 2007 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, affirms inflammatory
rheumatic disease and smoking as independent predictors of vessel wall
inflammation. The vascular inflammation might be a factor that promotes
atherosclerosis and the formation of aneurysms.

Aortic samples were obtained during CABG surgery, performed at two cardiac
centers in Norway, from 66 patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease and
51 control patients. The inflammatory rheumatic disease group included
patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, ankylosing
spondylitis, polymyalgia and other diseases. Age, body mass index, family
history of heart disease, and other traditional cardiovascular risk factors
were similar in both groups. All specimens were evaluated, by light
microscope, for evidence of chronic inflammatory cell infiltration in the
aortic wall. This was achieved by counting and measuring the mononuclear
cell infiltrates (MCI) in the aorta, with particular attention to the
adventitia, the deepest layer of vascular tissue. Using statistical
analysis, the relationship between these inflammatory infiltrates and
established lifestyle risk factors for heart disease was also assessed. ...
Cont.

Article: http://www.mooshee.com/article-2996570.htm