Increased modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in patients with Takayasu arteritis: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (MCRFs), such as those related to aerobic capacity, muscle strength, physical activity, and body composition, have been poorly studied in Takayasu arteritis (TAK). Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate MCRFs and their relationships with disease status and comorbidities among patients with TAK. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted between 2019 and 2020, in which 20 adult women with TAK were compared with 16 healthy controls matched by gender, age, and body mass index. The following parameters were analyzed: aerobic capacity by cardiopulmonary test; muscle function by timed-stands test, timed up-and-go test, and handgrip test; muscle strength by one-repetition maximum test and handgrip test; body composition by densitometry; physical activity and metabolic equivalent by IPAQ, quality of life by HAQ and SF-36; disease activity by ITAS2010 and NIH score; and presence of comorbidities. Results Patients with TAK had a mean age of 41.5 (38.0–46.3) years, disease duration of 16.0 (9.5–20.0) years, and a mean BMI of 27.7±4.5 kg/m2. Three out of the 20 patients with TAK had active disease. Regarding comorbidities, 16 patients had systemic arterial hypertension, 11 had dyslipidemia, and two had type 2 diabetes mellitus, while the control group had no comorbidities. TAK had a significant reduction in aerobic capacity (absolute and relative VO2 peak), muscle strength in the lower limbs, increased visceral adipose tissue, waist-to-hip ratio, reduced walking capacity, decreased weekly metabolic equivalent, and quality of life (P< 0.05) as compared to controls. However, there were no correlations between these MCRFs parameters and disease activity. Conclusions TAK show impairment in MCRFs; therefore, strategies able to improve MCRF should be considered in this disease.

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Takayasu Arteritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Lower scores indicate greater impairment [61]. dos Santos et al [56] reported worse WIQ scores in 20 patients with TAK (mean ± SD: 64.6 ± 44.5) compared to 16 healthy controls (96.3 ± 8.2).…”

“…Individual SF-36 Domains Pooling data from five studies [37,39,45,51,56] (three cross- Comparisons between TAK patients and healthy controls were pooled from two studies (one each cross-sectional or cohort studies, 30 patients with TAK) [39,56]. Large effect sizes denoted worse scores in all domains for patients with TAK, with considerable heterogeneity [32]; however, the differences were not statistically significant (Fig.…”

“…HAQ scores C 1 indicate significant disability [12]. Six studies evaluated HAQ in TAK [40,42,45,49,51,56]. Pooled HAQ in 261 patients with TAK (two cohort, three cross-sectional studies) [40,42,45,51,56] was 0.46 (95% CI 0.37-0.55) with little heterogeneity (Fig.…”

“…5a). Three studies (one cohort, two cross-sectional studies) [40,42,56] comparing HAQ in 240 patients with TAK with 163 healthy controls identified significantly worse HAQ score in the TAK arm (SMD 0.64, 95% CI 0.43-0.84) (Fig. 5b) with medium effect size [32].…”

“…International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form The IPAQ-SF enables assessment of physical activity through seven questions with a subsequent calculation of metabolic equivalents (METs) consumed during such physical activity [60]. dos Santos et al [56] reported lower physical activity in 20 patients with TAK (mean ± SD: 481.6 ± 379 METs consumed during physical activity per week) compared to 16 healthy controls (1662.7 ± 827.4 METs per week).…”