POS0115 RISK FACTORS FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE AND ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH BECHET’S DISEASE
Authors: R. Goloeva, Z. Alekberova, T. Popkova, S. Glukhova
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2021)

Background: Objectives: To evaluate traditional risk factors for clinically manifest and asymptomatic atherosclerosis in pts with BD. Methods: Traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis were evaluated in 95 pts with Bechet’s disease (BD) and 40 healthy age and gender matched controls. The male-to-female ratio was 3,7:1, pts’ mean age was 29.7 (23-35) y, the mean age at the disease onset - 19,9 (14-25) y, and mean disease duration - 9,6 (4-15) y. The common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) was evaluated by high resolution B-mode ultrasonography. A plaque was defined as a local intima-media thickening ≥1,2 mm, with reference IMT thickness &lt;0,9 mm. Serum concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs CRP) was measured by immunonephelometric assay (BN-100 Analyzer; Dade Behring). Lipid profile evaluation included total cholesterol, TGs, HDL, LDL and atherogenic index. Results: Traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis (one or more) were found in 85,3% of BD pts, dyslipidemia was the most common risk factor and was present in 76,84% of pts, mostly due to increased total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. 22,1% had arterial hypertension (AH), 29,5% were current smokers, 27,4% had excess body weight, 3,1% had family history of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis were found in 80% out of 40 gender and age matching subjects from the control group, i.e., showing practically the same prevalence as in BD pts. Table 1. The incidence-rate of traditional risk factors in BD patients and controls Variables BD pts (n=95) Controls (n=40) р Age, years 29,0 [23,0;35,0] 29,0 [25,0;32,0] NS BMI, kg/m 2 23,1 [21,1;25,5] 23,8 [22,0;26,0] NS BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 , n (%) 26 (27,4) 15 (37,5) NS Arterial hypertension, n (%) 21 (22,1) 4 (10) NS Family history of CVD 3 (3,1) 5 (12,5) 0,05 Cigarette smoking, n (%) 28 (29,5) 12 (30,0) NS Dyslipidemia, n (%) 73 (76,8) 27 (67,5) NS Total cholesterol, mml/l 5,0 [4,3;6,1] 5,1 [4,5;5,7] NS Cholesterol &gt; 5,0 mml/l, n (%) 47 (49,5) 25 (62,5) NS TGs, mml/l 0,92 [0,7;1,3] 0,89 [0,60;1,08] NS TGs &gt; 1,7 mml/l, n (%) 8 (8,4) 3 (7,5) NS LDL, mml/l 3,36 (2,8;4,0) 3,3 [2,7;3,7] NS LDL &gt; 3 mml/l, n (%) 63 (66,3) 25 (62,5) NS HDL, mml/l 1,19 [1,0;1,5] 1,35 [1,2;1,6] 0,06 HDL ≤1 mml/l (male), ≤ 1,2 mml/l (female) n (%) 30 (31,6) 5 (12,5) 0,03 Reduced HDL levels were more common in BD pts vs the controls - 30 (31,6%) vs 5 (12,5), р =0,03 as shown in table 1. Other traditional risk factors were similarly present in both groups with no significant difference between BD pts and the controls. Analysis showed similar incidence of CV events (nonfatal myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and stroke) in both groups. There were no differences between BD pts and healthy people in terms of lifetime risk for CVD. High lifetime risk ≥ 20% was found in 4 BD pts vs 0 in the control group; moderate lifetime risk &gt;10% &lt; 20% - in 6,3% of BD pts vs 2,5% in the control group, and low lifetime risk &lt; 10% -was found in 89,5% of BD pts vs 97,5% of the controls. Average IMT values were significantly higher in BD pts - 0.68 [0.60;0.73] vs 0.63 [0.56;0.65], p =0.008, but at the same time, IMT thinning (up to &lt; 0.5 mm) was significantly more common in BD pts - 32.6% vs 12.5% in the control group ( p =0.01). HsCRP serum levels were significantly higher in BD pts (2.42 [0.5;8.8] mg / l) than in the control group (0.37 [0.15;0.75]), p =0.001. There was a correlation between hs-CRP and BMI in BD pts (r=0.2, p &lt;0.05), but no correlation was found between hsCRP and BD activity/BD clinical manifestations. Conclusion: Decreased HDL cholesterol levels were more common in BD patients than in the control group, just as thinning of IMT, most likely because of vasculitis. Disclosure of Interests: None declared