TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Spinelli, Francesca Romana
AU  -  Chimenti, Maria Sole
AU  -  Gremese, Elisa
T1  -  Cardiovascular risk in women with autoimmune rheumatic diseases
PY  -  2019
Y1  -  2019-05-01
DO  -  10.1723/3188.31664
JO  -  The Italian Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine
JA  -  Ital J Gender-Specific Med
VL  -  5
IS  -  2
SP  -  59
EP  -  67
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2612-3487
Y2  -  2026/05/24
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1723/3188.31664
N2  -  Summary. Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the main cause of death in the general population, as well as in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In recent years, many female-specific CV risk factors have been recognized, including pregnancy morbidity and autoimmunity. Different autoantibodies have been associated with CV disease in patients with and without autoimmune disease. Atherosclerosis and RA share many common pathogenic features, starting from the pre-clinical stage of the diseases: genetic background, environmental factors and post-translational modification of antigens. Although CV morbidity appears to be equally distributed between men and women with RA, some studies suggest a higher risk among female patients with RA. Besides the traditional risk factors, disease-specific autoantibodies (antibodies to citrullinated and carbamylated proteins) and disease activity contribute to CV morbidity. It is worth noting that female patients have more active disease and show poorer response to treatment. Amongst SLE patients, younger females are at highest risk of death for CV events. Although survival has improved, long-term mortality is still mainly attributable to CV events. As in RA, SLE patients show higher CV morbidity and mortality that are not fully explained by the excess of traditional CV risk factors. The inflammatory burden and different autoantibodies, in particular the anti-phospholipid antibodies, contribute to the atherosclerotic process. Moreover, disease activity and medications further contribute to CV risk.
ER  -