Atherothrombotic Risk Factors in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: The onset of cardiovascular complications has increased the mortality rate in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Presently, there is a need to diagnose cardiovascular co-morbidity in rheumatic disease. While biomarkers such as P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1), fibrinogen, anti-thrombin III (AT-III), hsCRP, lipoprotein (a) (lp(a)), leptin, adiponectin, and asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) are already established as independent risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis, the association of these biomarkers with disease activity in RA patients is unclear.