Sulfasalazine might reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Aim: To assess the effects of celecoxib and sulfasalazine on cardiovascular risk in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods: We performed a 10-year population-based retrospective cohort study. A total of 1208 AS patients and 19 328 non-AS patients were sampled from the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) database. We compared these two groups of patients to identify the differences in the exposure of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and sulfasalazine and their effects on cardiovascular risk. Univariate analyses were performed using Chi-squared tests for dichotomous variables and t-tests for continuous variables. Cox proportional hazard models were conducted to investigate the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Results: AS patients had an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.72 (CI = 1.46–2.02, P < 0.01) for CVD compared with non-AS controls. The risk increased significantly with the progression of the disease. The use of celecoxib and sulfasalazine provided protective effects against CVD in both groups of patients. Both drugs at high cumulative defined daily doses (DDD) and celecoxib alone at high cumulative DDD showed significant protective effects against CVD in AS patients and the control group, respectively. Sulfasalazine at ≥ 0.5 DDD (1000 mg/day) reduced CVD risk in patients with AS (HR = 0.65, CI = 0.43–0.998, P < 0.05). Conclusions: In this population-based retrospective cohort study, sulfasalazine at its optimal dose reduced CVD risk in patients with AS. Celecoxib was neutral regarding CVD risk in AS patients.