Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a high cardiovascular (CV) risk. Relationships between inflammation and arterial stiffness (AS) in patients with RA are not well understood.

Aim: To evaluate parameters of AS and their associations with inflammation in patients with RA.

Methods: 62 patients with RA without known CVD were examined (73%females, age 58,5±15,4 years, 13% smokers, 61% with AH). Median duration of RA was 8 years (IQR 3–17).

Median hsCRP 12,1 mg/dl (IQR 2,2; 23,4), median rheumatoid factor (RF) 32,5 IU/ml (IQR 8,3; 173 IU/ml). All patients received disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

Median duration of AH 6,1 years (IQR 0–10 years). Parameters of AS were assessed by applanation tonometry. Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and vascular age were measured by VaSera 1500. PWV > 10,0 m/s and CAVI > 9,0 were considered as AS increase. p < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Mean PWV was 9,3±3,2 m/s. PWV > 10m/s was observed in 32,3% patients, CAVI > 9,0 in 25,8%. Patients with PWV > 10m/s were older (69,8±8,5 vs 53,2±15,1 years), had higher BMI (29,3±6,5 vs 24,7±4,8 kg/m²), duration of AH (median 11,5 [IQR 5,5; 17] vs 0 [IQR 0; 5] years), higher SBP levels (144±20 vs 123 ± 14 mmHg), higher levels of hs-CRP (median 22 [IQR 13,3; 60] vs 6,7 [IQR 1,6; 17,2]mg/dl), higher CAVI (9,5±1,1 vs 7,6±1,4), vascular age (71±8,4 vs 53,4±17,5 years). There were positive correlations between PWV and age (r = 0,7), BMI (r = 0,4), SBP (r = 0,6), hs- CRP (r = 0,3), vascular age (r = 0,6). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that AH duration (β = 0,2, р = 0.03), SBP (β = 0,6, р < 0.0001) and hs-CRP (β = 0,3, р = 0.000009) were independent predictors of AS increase.

Conclusion: Elevation of hsCRP as well as other traditional risk factors is an independent predictor of PWV increase in patients with RA.