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Rheumatology Advance Access published online on September 24, 2009
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kep288
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Autoimmunity and atherosclerosis: the presence of antinuclear antibodies is associated with decreased carotid elasticity in young women. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Marja Pertovaara1,2, Mika Kähönen3, Markus Juonala4, Tomi Laitinen5, Leena Taittonen6,7, Terho Lehtimäki8,9, Jorma S. A. Viikari4, Olli T. Raitakari10 and Mikko Hurme2,8

1Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Rheumatology, Tampere University Hospital, 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 3Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital, University of Tampere, Medical School, Tampere, 4Department of Medicine, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, 5Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, 6Department of Pediatrics, Vaasa Central Hospital, Vaasa, 7Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, Oulu, 8The Centre for Laboratory Medicine, Tampere University Hospital, 9Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Tampere, Medical School, Tampere and 10Department of Clinical Physiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

Correspondence to: Marja Pertovaara, Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Rheumatology, Tampere University Hospital, PO Box 2000, FIN-33521 Tampere, Finland. E-mail: marja.pertovaara{at}uta.fi


  Abstract

Objective. There is ample evidence demonstrating that accelerated atherosclerosis prevails in autoimmune rheumatic diseases, particularly in SLE, and that the risk is due not only to traditional cardiovascular risk factors but also to the disease itself. ANAs are a hallmark of SLE and are known even to antedate the development of SLE. Our aim was to investigate whether positive ANAs in young adults are associated with risk factors for atherosclerosis or subclinical markers of atherosclerosis.

Methods. ANAs were examined by IIF using HEp-2 cells as substrate in 2278 participants in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study for whom detailed data on cardiovascular risk factors and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis (including brachial flow-mediated dilatation, carotid compliance and carotid intima-media thickness) were available.

Results. In multivariate analyses, adjusted for age, BMI, serum concentrations of CRP, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking habits, ANA positivity (titre > 160) was inversely associated (β = –0.145; P = 0.034) with carotid compliance in women.

Conclusions. Our results indicate that ANA positivity is associated with decreased carotid elasticity in women, suggesting that mechanisms resulting in ANA production may be involved in the development of early atherosclerosis.

KEY WORDS: Antinuclear antibodies, Autoimmunity, Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, Risk factors

Submitted 8 April 2009; revised version accepted 5 August 2009.
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