Evidence mapPaperPMID 34170978Full record

Trial reportPloS one2021

Antirheumatic therapy is not associated with changes in circulating N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels in patients with autoimmune arthritis.

Thao H P Nguyen, Morten Wang Fagerland, Gia Deyab, Gunnbjørg Hjeltnes, Ivana Hollan, Mark W Feinberg, Gro Ø Eilertsen, Knut Mikkelsen, Stefan Agewall

Open access · goldAbstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 33% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Heart failure in autoimmune rheumatic diseases.Rheumatology international · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.

Thao H P NguyenLillehammer Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Lillehammer, Norway.ORCID 0000-0003-2597-4031
Morten Wang FagerlandOslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Research Support Services, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Gia DeyabDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen, Norway.
Gunnbjørg HjeltnesDepartment of Internal Medicine, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Lillehammer, Norway.
Ivana HollanBeitostølen Health and Sport Centre, Beitostølen, Norway.
Mark W FeinbergHarvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Gro Ø EilertsenFaculty of Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Medicine, UIT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Knut MikkelsenVolvat Medical Center, Lillehammer, Norway.
Stefan AgewallUniversity of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Oslo, Norway.
Oslo University Hospital · NOBrigham and Women's Hospital · USInnlandet Hospital Trust · NONorwegian University of Science and Technology · NOUniversity Hospital of North Norway · NOUniversity of Oslo · NOVestre Viken Hospital Trust · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPatients with autoimmune arthritis (AA) are at increased risk for impaired cardiac function and heart failure. This may be partly due to the effect of inflammation in heart function. The impact of antirheumatic drugs on cardiac dysfunction in AA remains controversial. Therefore, we aimed to examine effects of antirheumatic treatment on serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in AA patients and its relationship to inflammatory markers.

methodsWe examined 115 patients with AA (64 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 31 psoriatic arthritis and 20 ankylosis spondylitis) starting with methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) with or without MTX co-medication. NT-proBNP (measured in serum by ECLIA from Roche Diagnostics), and other clinical and laboratory parameters were evaluated at baseline, after 6 weeks and 6 months of treatment.

resultsNT-proBNP levels did not change significantly after 6 weeks and 6 months of antirheumatic therapy (pbaseline-6weeks = 0.939; pbaseline-6months = 0.485), although there was a modest improvement from 6 weeks to 6 months in the MTX only treatment group (median difference = -18.2 [95% CI = -32.3 to -4.06], p = 0.013). There was no difference in the effects of MTX monotherapy and TNFi regimen on NT-proBNP levels. The changes in NT-proBNP after antirheumatic treatment positively correlated with changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Baseline NT-proBNP levels were related to baseline CRP and ESR levels, and some other established markers of disease activities in crude analyses.

conclusionCirculating levels of NT-proBNP were related to established inflammatory markers at baseline, and the changes in NT-proBNP after antirheumatic treatment were positively related to these markers. Nevertheless, antirheumatic therapy did not seem to affect NT-proBNP levels compared to baseline, even though inflammatory markers significantly improved.

Indexed as

ArthritisAutoimmune DiseasesAdultAntirheumatic AgentsBiomarkersBlood SedimentationC-Reactive ProteinFemaleHumansMaleMethotrexateMiddle AgedNatriuretic Peptide, BrainPeptide FragmentsTumor Necrosis Factor-alphaAntirheumatic AgentsBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinMethotrexateNatriuretic Peptide, BrainPeptide Fragmentspro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76)Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Identifiers

PMID34170978
PMCPMC8232407
OpenAlexW3175114563

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.