THU0576 Cardiovascular risk in long-term juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Background Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is one of the more common chronic diseases of childhood that often persists into adulthood and can result in significant long-term morbidity, including physical disability. The long-term risk of cardiovascular disease for individuals with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) remains uncertain. Objectives This study aims to determine whether adults with JIA in remission and medium-long duration of the disease have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Methods This is a cross-sectional study including 25 patients (14 females and 11 males) diagnosed with JIA according to the International League of Associations for Rheumatology criteria ILAR 2001 were compared to 20 age- and sex-matched controls. Remission was determined by JADAS27 Results Mean duration of the disease was 13.31±1.14 years. Mean age was 27.21±0.68. Time in remission was 3.52±0.84 years. Metabolic comordibities such as obesity and metabolic syndrome were more prevalent in our cohort of JIA patients compared to controls. Levels of cholesterol were significantly elevated in patients. However, HOMA-IR values and intra-arterial pressure were not significant increased in JIA patients. CIMT was higher in JIA patients compared to controls (0.44±0.009 vs 0.41±0.017, p=0.078), although it did not reach the statistical significance. Serum levels of cytokines (including TNFa, IL6 and IL1b), adipokines (such as resistin and visfatin), and VEGF were significantly augmented in the cases vs healthy donors. In addition, IMT values significantly correlated with the disease duration (r=0.439, p=0.046) and serum VEGF levels (r=0.498, p=0.030). Conclusions In our cohort of JIA patients the increased CIMT was not associated with inflammatory markers, but disease duration. Although patients were in clinical remission, the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, adipokines and VEGF were elevated, molecules with a relevant role in the onset and progression of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. These results might suggest that long-term JIA patients could have higher cardiovascular risk, although they are in sustained remission. Disclosure of Interest None declared