High sensitivity cardiac troponin T levels tied to swollen joints and disease activity in RA patients

Results:

· 64 patients had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 31 psoriatic arthritis and 20 ankylosing spondylitis.

· Considering disease activity markers, baseline hsTnT levels positively correlated with Physicians’ Global Assessment Score of disease activity in the total patient cohort.

· In the RA group, there was a positive correlation of hsTnT with swollen joints, Disease Activity Score for 28 joints with ESR and serum tumour necrosis factor levels.

· At baseline, the median hsTnT was 5.0 ng/L, and did not change significantly at 6-week visit and 6-month visit with the value of 6.0 ng/L with either antirheumatic therapy.

Thao H. P. Nguyen from Lillehammer Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases said that when high-risk patients are identified early, it may facilitate precision medicine as an intervention for inflammatory arthritis comorbidity.

Concluding further, there was a correlation between HsTnT levels and inflammatory markers for IA disease activity. Following antirheumatic treatment, there were changes in the inflammatory markers, but hsTnT did not change during the 6-month follow-up period.

Further reading:

Nguyen THP, Fagerland MW, Hollan I, Whist JE, Feinberg MW, Agewall S. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T is associated with disease activity in patients with inflammatory arthritis. PLoS One. 2023 Feb 10;18(2):e0281155. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281155.