IMPACT OF ANTIRHEUMATIC THERAPY ON THE LEVEL OF N-TERMINAL PRO-BRAIN NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE IN PATIENTS WITH EARLY RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Objective: to investigate the impact of antirheumatic therapy carried out according to the treat-to-target (T2T) principle on the time course of changes in NT-proBNP levels in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over an 18- month follow-up period.

Subjects and methods. The investigation enrolled 74 patients, comprising 56 (74%) women (median age, 54 years) with a reliable diagnosis of RA (ACR/AULAR criteria (2010)) (disease duration, 7 months); who were seropositive for IgM rheumatoid factor (87%) and/or anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (100%) and had not previously taken disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and glucocorticoids. All the patients started therapy with subcutaneous methotrexate (MTX), with escalation of the dose to 25-30 mg/week; in the absence of any effect after 3 months, biological agents (BAs) were added in 47 (71%) patients. Following 18 months, 44% of patients achieved RA remission; 51 patients (77%) received cardioprotective therapy. NT-proBNP levels were measured in 66 patients with early RA before and 18 months after treatment. The NT-proBNP value <125 pg/ml was taken to be normal.

Results and discussion. During antirheumatic therapy, there was a decrease in the median level of NT-proBNP from 125 [65; 208] to 68 [33; 115] pg/ml (p < 0.05) and in the frequency of its elevated values from 49 to 21% (p < 0.02). In the patients with RA remission, there was a more pronounced decrease in the frequency of elevated NT-proBNP values (from 45 to 7%; p < 0.05), while in those who had not achieved RA remission, NT-proBNP values showed only a tendency to decrease (from 51 to 32%; p < 0.05). The level of NT-proBNP became normal in the patients who had achieved remission of RA during treatment. There was no progression of the existing chronic heart failure (CHF) or development of its new cases.

Conclusion. A significant decrease in NT-proBNP levels was recorded during antirheumatic therapy performed according to the T2T strategy, especially when using a combination of MTX+BAs and achieving RA remission. Therapy with MTX and BAs did not lead to the worsening of CHF or to the development of its new cases in patients with early RA. 

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