According to current cardiovascular care, statin medication is used to treat practically all patients, whether they are at high risk for atherosclerosis or not. As a result, the relative contributions of hyperlipidemia and inflammation as indicators of cardiovascular risk may have changed. The benefits of lower cholesterol levels for cardiovascular health are widely documented.
When used with statin therapy, a number of supplementary lipid-lowering treatments have been created to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. Targeted anti-inflammatory drugs, including generic colchicine, have also been proven to improve cardiovascular outcomes when combined with statin therapy.It is crucial to know whether doctors can recommend an anti-inflammatory drug or another cholesterol-lowering medication to patients who are currently on statin therapy. Before deciding on the best therapeutic approach, it is also critical to compare the remaining inflammatory and lipid risk among this group of patients.
Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) were evaluated in a recent Lancet study as risk factors for cardiovascular death, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality in patients on statins.
Patients receiving statin therapy and those at high risk of developing atherosclerotic disease were the subjects of a collaborative analysis. One of the three international trials—PROMINENT, REDUCE-IT, or STRENGTH—was taken part in by each patient.
The three current cohorts, totaling 31,245 patients, were included in this investigation. Significantly, all subjects selected from the PROMINENT group, 58% of the REDUCE-IT cohort, and 70% of the STRONG cohort had type 2 diabetes. The majority of patients from all cohort groups used high-intensity statins.
The median baseline LDLC concentrations were between 75 mg/dL and 78 mg/dL, and the median baseline high-sensitivity CRP concentrations were between 2.1 mg/L and 2.3 mg/L. The high-sensitivity CRP and LDLC levels at baseline significantly predicted severe adverse cardiovascular events, cardiovascular death, and all-cause mortality in all three studies.
In individuals on statin therapy, the residual inflammatory risk was found to be more strongly related with future cardiovascular events than the residual cholesterol risk.At present, oral colchicine (0.5 mg daily) is used as an anti-inflammatory agent for vascular protection. This drug is inexpensive and significantly lowers the risk of cardiovascular events. To date, clinicians have not recommended generic colchicine for atherosclerosis, for patients under statin therapy, due to a lack of scientific evidence. The current study proposed that concomitant targeting of inflammation and atherogenic lipids will significantly lower atherosclerotic risk.
