Colchicine Does Not Reduce Aortic FDG Uptake in Chronic Coronary Disease Trial

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assigned 111 patients with chronic coronary artery disease and elevated aortic or carotid target-to-background ratios to colchicine 0.6 mg daily (55 patients) or placebo (56) for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in mean maximum ascending-aortic target-to-background ratio on 18F-FDG PET. The study also assessed inflammatory markers and blood pressure. Investigators conducted complementary experiments in spontaneously hypertensive rats treated for four weeks.

Colchicine did not significantly change aortic FDG uptake compared with placebo: adjusted mean changes were 0.05 and 0.01, respectively (p=0.38). Secondary analyses showed a greater reduction in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (−0.36 vs −0.08; p=0.033) and smaller increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.046 and p=0.048); the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein result was a trend (p=0.060). In rats, colchicine affected inflammation, remodeling and vasodilator responses in mesenteric resistance arteries, but not the aorta.

The primary human endpoint was negative. Blood-pressure and inflammatory findings were secondary or exploratory, and the animal results do not establish clinical benefit or the relevance of these pathways to coronary atherosclerosis.