Year:
Applicant:
Institution:
Email:
rmarrie@hsc.mb.ca
Project ID:
2203003
Approved Project Status:
Project Summary
Arteries are blood vessels. They can become narrowed due to a build-up of fat and cholesterol. This is called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can lead to heart disease. Heart disease is more common in persons with multiple sclerosis than without multiple sclerosis. We do not know why heart disease is more common in people with multiple sclerosis. However, we know that more heart disease than expected occurs in people with rheumatoid arthritis too. Participants in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging undergo ultrasound of the big blood vessels in the neck. Those ultrasound measures can be used to look for atherosclerosis. We will compare ultrasound results between people with multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and people with multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Project Findings
In atherosclerosis, the arteries are narrowed due to a build-up of plaque made up of fat, cholesterol, and other factors. Atherosclerosis can be silent, called subclinical atherosclerosis, or can lead to heart disease. Heart disease affects people with multiple sclerosis (MS) more often than people without MS, but we do not know why. In people with MS, inflammation damages the brain and spinal cord. In people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammation damages the joints. Due to inflammation, subclinical atherosclerosis occurs in people with RA even if there are no risk factors. Since MS and RA are alike regarding heart disease and inflammation, subclinical atherosclerosis may also occur in MS.
The project used data from participants in the CLSA who did not have known atherosclerotic disease (heart disease, stroke), and who had an ultrasound of the big blood vessels in the neck (carotids). Measurements of the thickness of the lining of the carotids can be used as markers of atherosclerosis. These measures are called carotid intima media thickness (CIMT). We included 78 participants with MS, 364 with RA and 13,891 controls. Overall, the average CIMT was 0.699. The average CIMT did not differ between the three groups. The groups also were the same when we looked at the proportion who had a high CIMT (at or above the 75th percentile) for age and gender. Further study is needed to find out why people with MS have increased rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
