Study | Type | No. Patients | No. Controls | Daily Dose | Cumulative Dose | GC Duration, yrs | Subclinical Atherosclerosis | Results | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gonzalez-Juanatey 20033 | Case-control | RA 47 | 47 | 15.9 g mean | ≥ 5 | cIMT plaque | No correlation cumulative PDN-plaque | ||
Gonzalez-Juanatey 20034 | Case-control | RA 55 | 31 | Mean 10 mg/day | ≥ 5 | FMD | No correlation cumulative PDN-FMD | ||
Gonzalez-Juanatey 20045 | Case-control | RA 47 | 47 | Mean 10 mg/day | LVDD | No correlation cumulative PDN-LVDD | |||
del Rincon 20046 | Prosp | RA 427 | 220 | Mean 6.4 mg | Low 5–6.0 mg, medium 6–16 mg, high 16–122 mg | Mean 7.5 | cIMT, plaque, ABI | Increased plaque/ABI in higher dose | cIMT/plaque/ABI with duration of exposure |
Hafström 20077 | Prosp | Early RA 34 | 31 | DMARD + PDN 7.5 mg/day vs DMARD | 2 ± 2 | cIMT plaque, FMD | No difference | Higher total cholesterol in PDN | |
Vettori 20108 | Case-control | 50 SSc | 41 | Low-medium (5–15 mg/day) in 62% | 30% no PDN, 28% < 5 g, 16% 5–10 g, 26% > 10 g | IMT > 0.9 mm plaque | OR 1.15 in higher cumulative dose | ||
Giles 20119 | Prosp | 158 RA | No | Median 3.1 g (0–9.1) | cIMT/plaque progression at mean 3.2 yrs | Association cumulative PDN-cIMT progression | Lower cIMT progression in PDN users on statin therapy |
cIMT: carotid intima-media thickness; ABI: ankle-brachial index; FMD: flow-mediated vasodilation; LVDD: left ventricular diastolic dysfunction; GC: glucocorticoid; PDN: prednisone; Prosp: prospective; RA: rheumatoid arthritis; DMARD: disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.