| Title: | Association Between Rheumatoid Arthritis and the Risk of Incident Degenerative Valvular Heart Disease: Evidence From a Prospective Cohort Study |
| Journal: | Journal of the American Heart Association |
| Published: | 12 Aug 2025 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40792579/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.125.042025 |
Publication 16567
WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates that degenerative valvular heart disease (VHD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) share overlapping risk factors and intersecting inflammatory processes; however, their interrelationship remains insufficiently explored.</p>
METHODS: Among 492 745 UK Biobank participants without VHD at baseline, Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to assess the association between prevalent RA and new-onset degenerative VHD, with sequential adjustments for demographic factors, lifestyle variables, and comorbidities. The end points of degenerative VHD in this study included 8 subtypes: aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, tricuspid stenosis, tricuspid regurgitation, pulmonary stenosis, and pulmonary regurgitation.</p>
RESULTS: Among participants with RA (n=6673), 359 cases of degenerative VHD were recorded over a median follow-up of 13.71 (interquartile range, 12.71-14.55) years, compared with 13 518 cases in those without RA (n=486 072) over a median follow-up of 13.78 (interquartile range, 12.96-14.51) years. After full adjustment, RA was significantly associated with a higher risk of 3 types of new-onset degenerative VHD: aortic stenosis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64 [95% CI, 1.40-1.92]), aortic regurgitation (HR, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.34-2.13]), and mitral regurgitation (HR, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.32-1.81]), while no significant association was observed between RA and other degenerative VHD subtypes. Moreover, sex subgroup analyses revealed an interaction between sex and RA in the occurrence of aortic stenosis (P for interaction=0.02) and mitral regurgitation (P for interaction=0.04), indicating a higher risk in women.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of RA indicated an elevated risk of new-onset degenerative aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, and mitral regurgitation, which required further investigation and better disease management.</p>
12 Keywords
- Aged
- Arthritis, Rheumatoid
- Female
- Heart Valve Diseases
- Humans
- Incidence
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Prospective Studies
- Risk Assessment
- Risk Factors
- United Kingdom
9 Authors
- Zuoxiang Wang
- Junxing Lv
- Xifeng Qian
- Ziang Li
- Zheng Yin
- Can Wang
- Sheng Zhao
- Xiaojin Gao
- Yongjian Wu
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 91035 | Genetic and Non-genetic determinants of cardio-metabolic diseases and its comorbidity |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health