Different Anti-inflammatory Drugs on High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein in Patients After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

Colchicine reduces atherothrombotic cardiovascular events in coronary artery disease because of its anti-inflammatory effect. However, the effects of the other anti-inflammatory drugs in coronary artery disease remain unclear. This study included 132 patients aged 18-80 years who completed the planned percutaneous coronary interventions and were treated with aggressive secondary prevention strategies for 4 weeks. The subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of the following treatment groups for 4 weeks: (1) control: no additional intervention; (2) colchicine: 0.5 mg once a day; (3) tranilast: 0.1 g thrice a day; or (4) oridonin: 0.5 g thrice a day. The primary outcome was the percentage change in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels at the end of 4 weeks. In total, 109 patients completed the study. The mean age was 58.33 years, 81 (74.31%) were male, and 28 (25.69%) were female. The percentage changes in hsCRP after 4 weeks of treatment were -11.62%, -48.28%, -21.60%, and -7.81%, in the control, colchicine, tranilast, and the oridonin groups, respectively. Compared with the control group, only the colchicine group showed significantly greater reduction in hsCRP levels (P = 0.022). In targeted proteomic analysis, proteins associated with neutrophil activation (azurocidin, myeloperoxidase, and myeloblastin), platelet aggregation (glycoprotein VI), and endothelial damage (galectin-3) were reduced with colchicine therapy. These results show that of 3 anti-inflammatory drugs only colchicine could reduce hsCRP in patients after percutaneous coronary interventions.