The study aimed to assess the association of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) to major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in Takayasu arteritis (TA) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Data on 60 TA patients with CAD and 60 age- and severity-matched patients with CAD hospitalized in Fuwai Hospital from 2005 to August 2014 were assessed. The clinical features, laboratory data, coronary angiographic findings, treatment, and follow-up outcomes were summarized retrospectively. MACE were defined as death from cardiac causes, myocardial infarction, nonfatal target vessel revascularization, or rehospitalization due to unstable or progressive angina. CAD patients had more atherogenic lipid and lipoprotein profiles such as lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (1.0 ± 0.2 vs. 1.3 ± 0.3 mmol/L, p = 0.01) and higher levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (2.5 ± 0.9 vs. 2.2 ± 1.1 mmol/L, p = 0.04) in contrast with TA-CAD patients. During a mean follow-up period of 3.2 years, 31 patients with Takayasu coronary arteritis reached the endpoint. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated that log(hsCRP) (HR = 5.3, 95 % CI = 1.1-27.8, p = 0.04) was a significant and independent predictor of MACE in patients with Takayasu coronary arteritis. Elevated baseline levels of hsCRP predict cardiovascular events, independent of other prognostic markers in TA-related CAD patients.

Our study aimed to determine whether proatherogenic lipid profiles exist in patients with active Takayasu arteritis (TA) and assess the relationship between different lipid profiles and disease activity in TA. A total of 132 premenopausal female patients with TA and 100 sex-, age-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls were included in our study. The clinical data were collected in detail from all participants. Patients with active TA had significantly lower levels of apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) (1.47 ± 0.30 vs. 1.99 ± 0.33 mmol/L, p < 0.001) and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (1.23 ± 0.33 vs. 1.68 ± 0.38 mmol/L, p < 0.001) than patients with inactive TA. However, they had higher ratios of apolipoprotein B (apoB)/apoA1 (0.74 ± 0.27 vs. 0.48 ± 0.14, p < 0.001) compared with patients with inactive TA. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that the apoB/apoA1 ratio was independently associated with TA activity (β = 0.38, p = 0.04). In addition, multivariate stepwise forward regression analysis showed that the apoB/apoA1 ratio was the major determinant for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (β = 0.58, p = 0.002). Our findings indicate that patients with active TA had proatherogenic lipid profiles. In addition, the ratio of apoB to apoA1 could be used as a marker for monitoring and targeting patients with TA.

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