Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica

The leading cause of death in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tianyu Zhang, Chris A. Gentry, Nicole M. Kuderer, Gary H. Lyman, Bernard Ng, Despina Michailidou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Immunology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1509941/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850155805267984384
author Tianyu Zhang
Chris A. Gentry
Nicole M. Kuderer
Gary H. Lyman
Gary H. Lyman
Bernard Ng
Despina Michailidou
Despina Michailidou
author_facet Tianyu Zhang
Chris A. Gentry
Nicole M. Kuderer
Gary H. Lyman
Gary H. Lyman
Bernard Ng
Despina Michailidou
Despina Michailidou
author_sort Tianyu Zhang
collection DOAJ
description The leading cause of death in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) in veterans with GCA and PMR could have a cardio-modulatory effect as compared to nonuse. Patients with GCA and PMR were identified through the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure. After a 2:1 propensity score matching for SSRI or SNRI users, we identified nonusers with similar covariates. We then applied a multivariate logistic regression (MLR), to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for cardiovascular event (CVE) outcomes within 5 years after the index date. Related hazard ratios (HR) were also calculated to validate the discovery of our findings. We identified 2249 patients with GCA and 3906 patients with PMR. Among patients with GCA, 174 (27%) SSRI users had incident cardiovascular disease as compared to 47 (28%) SNRI users and 277 (19%) nonusers; in the PMR cohort, 108 (13%) were SSRI users compared to 71 (15%) SNRI users and 255 (11%) nonusers. The adjusted ORs of the CVE outcome associated with venlafaxine (2.44, p=0.01) and sertraline (1.45, p=0.04) were significantly greater than 1 in GCA, with similar results observed in the PMR cohort (2.01, p=0.02, and 1.45, p=0.04, respectively). Cox-regression analysis was also conducted, and the hazard ratios were qualitatively consistent with the MLR analysis. In conclusion, the adjusted risk of CVE in patients with GCA or PMR using either venlafaxine or sertraline was higher than that in the non-exposed groups.
format Article
id doaj-art-5689635b742e4d7bb844199fc46f1967
institution OA Journals
issn 1664-3224
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Immunology
spelling doaj-art-5689635b742e4d7bb844199fc46f19672025-08-20T02:24:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Immunology1664-32242025-04-011610.3389/fimmu.2025.15099411509941Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumaticaTianyu Zhang0Chris A. Gentry1Nicole M. Kuderer2Gary H. Lyman3Gary H. Lyman4Bernard Ng5Despina Michailidou6Despina Michailidou7Department of Statistics and Data Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United StatesPharmacy Service, Oklahoma City VA Health Care System, Oklahoma City, OK, United StatesAdvanced Cancer Research Group, Kirkland, WA, United StatesDepartment of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United StatesPublic Health Sciences and Clinical Research Divisions, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, United StatesVA National Rheumatology Program, Lexington, KY, United StatesDivision of Rheumatology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United StatesDivision of Rheumatology, Oklahoma City VA Health Care System, Oklahoma City, OK, United StatesThe leading cause of death in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) in veterans with GCA and PMR could have a cardio-modulatory effect as compared to nonuse. Patients with GCA and PMR were identified through the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure. After a 2:1 propensity score matching for SSRI or SNRI users, we identified nonusers with similar covariates. We then applied a multivariate logistic regression (MLR), to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for cardiovascular event (CVE) outcomes within 5 years after the index date. Related hazard ratios (HR) were also calculated to validate the discovery of our findings. We identified 2249 patients with GCA and 3906 patients with PMR. Among patients with GCA, 174 (27%) SSRI users had incident cardiovascular disease as compared to 47 (28%) SNRI users and 277 (19%) nonusers; in the PMR cohort, 108 (13%) were SSRI users compared to 71 (15%) SNRI users and 255 (11%) nonusers. The adjusted ORs of the CVE outcome associated with venlafaxine (2.44, p=0.01) and sertraline (1.45, p=0.04) were significantly greater than 1 in GCA, with similar results observed in the PMR cohort (2.01, p=0.02, and 1.45, p=0.04, respectively). Cox-regression analysis was also conducted, and the hazard ratios were qualitatively consistent with the MLR analysis. In conclusion, the adjusted risk of CVE in patients with GCA or PMR using either venlafaxine or sertraline was higher than that in the non-exposed groups.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1509941/fullgiant cell arteritispolymyalgia rheumaticaSSRISNRIischemic strokeTIA
spellingShingle Tianyu Zhang
Chris A. Gentry
Nicole M. Kuderer
Gary H. Lyman
Gary H. Lyman
Bernard Ng
Despina Michailidou
Despina Michailidou
Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
Frontiers in Immunology
giant cell arteritis
polymyalgia rheumatica
SSRI
SNRI
ischemic stroke
TIA
title Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
title_full Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
title_fullStr Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
title_full_unstemmed Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
title_short Association of SSRI and SNRI use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
title_sort association of ssri and snri use with incidence of cardiovascular events in veterans with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica
topic giant cell arteritis
polymyalgia rheumatica
SSRI
SNRI
ischemic stroke
TIA
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1509941/full
work_keys_str_mv AT tianyuzhang associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT chrisagentry associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT nicolemkuderer associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT garyhlyman associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT garyhlyman associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT bernardng associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT despinamichailidou associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica
AT despinamichailidou associationofssriandsnriusewithincidenceofcardiovasculareventsinveteranswithgiantcellarteritisandpolymyalgiarheumatica