{"id":10957,"date":"2012-08-22T16:12:28","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T20:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=10957"},"modified":"2012-08-22T16:12:51","modified_gmt":"2012-08-22T20:12:51","slug":"trial-to-test-cardiac-potential-of-amti-inflammatory-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=10957","title":{"rendered":"Trial to Test Cardiac Potential of Anti-Inflammatory Drug"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A clinical trial led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital<\/a> in Boston will test the ability of a common anti-inflammatory drug to reduce rates of heart disease in high-risk patients. The trial is funded by grants from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute<\/a>, part of National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

Over 2 million people in the United States have heart attacks or strokes each year, causing death in many cases. Inflammation, along with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, plays a major role in heart attack and stroke. People who are obese, or have type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome often have elevated blood levels of various markers of inflammation and are at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.<\/p>\n

The Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial<\/a> (CIRT) will test whether low-dose methotrexate<\/a>, marketed as a generic drug by Teva Pharmaceuticals, can reduce the rates of recurrent cardiovascular events among patients with a prior heart attack, who also have diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Methotrexate is an inexpensive drug widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

Researchers led by principal investigator Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will enroll 7,000 patients<\/a> from up to 400 sites in the U.S. and Canada. Participants who tolerate the drug without side effects over a five-week test period will be randomly assigned to receive standard care plus a placebo, or standard care plus low-dose methotrexate. Patients in the trial will also take folic acid, which is routinely given with methotrexate to prevent vitamin deficiencies.<\/p>\n

The trial will track participants for two to four years. During that time, researchers will document the number of strokes, heart attacks, and heart-related deaths among participants, as well as\u00a0 death from all causes and certain heart- and blood vessel-related conditions and events. Those conditions and events include incident deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, atrial fibrillation, hospitalization for chest pain or congestive heart failure, non-surgical procedures or coronary artery bypass surgery, and newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Researchers are also expected to establish blood and DNA banks to to study the effect of low-dose methotrexate on a number of inflammatory biomarkers. Screening is scheduled begin in January 2013 with patient recruitment starting in in March 2013.<\/p>\n

“This new study is the end-game for more than fifteen years of research by investigators worldwide demonstrating that inflammation is a central part of the process that leads to heart attack and stroke,” says Ridker. “Whether or not reducing that inflammation can benefit our patients is unknown, but a positive finding in this trial has the potential to dramatically reshape how we think about and treat heart disease.”<\/p>\n

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