The Expression of Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin Kexin 9 in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Combined Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common clinically relevant arrhythmia, is an important contributor to population morbidity and mortality. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease, which affects approximately 1% of the population. Increasing studies demonstrated that RA had a positive correlation with increased cardiovascular diseases. Increasing studies showed that the prevalence of AF is significantly higher in RA patients than in the general population. Recently, some studies indicated that proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) promotes inflammatory by regulating macrophage secretion of inflammatory cytokines, inducing C-reaction protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and so on. However, the levels of PCSK9 in atrial fibrillation patients with rheumatoid arthritis is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the expression of PCSK9 in patients with RA combined atrial fibrillation.