The arthritis drug Remicade is known to lower the risk of heart disease, but apparently it doesn’t do so by improving cholesterol profiles.

Researchers from the Netherlands report that people with rheumatoid arthritis who are treated with Remicade (infliximab) show not only an improvement in arthritis but also significant increases in both HDL (“good”) cholesterol and total cholesterol.

However, “contrary to expectations,” these changes do not favorably alter the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol - the so-called ‘atherogenic index’ - Dr. Michael T. Nurmohamed told AMN Health.

“Hence, the favorable effect of infliximab on the cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is not mediated through modification of the lipid profile,” he said.

In a study reported in the February issue of the Journal of Rheumatology, Dr. Nurmohamed, at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, and colleagues examined the short-term effects of infliximab on cholesterol profiles of 69 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Total cholesterol increased from 5.2 to 5.6 units after 6 weeks, while HDL cholesterol rose from 1.4 to 1.6. As mentioned, these changes did not alter the atherogenic index.

“We observed a stable, instead of a decreasing, atherogenic index, which is an important predictor for future cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Nurmohamed said.

Whether longer treatment has a more beneficial effect on cholesterol levels “remains to be established,” he and his colleagues say.

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, February 2005.