@article{3161340,
    title = "Anti-Inflammatory Treatment With Colchicine in Stable Chronic Heart
Failure A Prospective, Randomized Study",
    author = "Deftereos, Spyridon and Giannopoulos, Georgios and Panagopoulou, and Vasiliki and Bouras, Georgios and Raisakis, Konstantinos and Kossyvakis, and Charalampos and Karageorgiou, Sofia and Papadimitriou, Charalampos and and Vastaki, Maria and Kaoukis, Andreas and Angelidis, Christos and Pagoni, and Stamatina and Pyrgakis, Vlasios and Alexopoulos, Dimitrios and Manolis, and Antonis S. and Stefanadis, Christodoulos and Cleman, Michael W.",
    journal = "JACC: Heart Failure",
    year = "2014",
    volume = "2",
    number = "2",
    pages = "131-137",
    publisher = "Elsevier Sci Ltd, Exeter, United Kingdom",
    issn = "2213-1779",
    doi = "10.1016/j.jchf.2013.11.006",
    keywords = "colchicine; C-reactive protein; heart failure; inflammation;
interleukin-6",
    abstract = "Objectives The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a
6-month course of anti-inflammatory treatment with colchicine in
improving functional status of patients with stable chronic heart
failure (CHF).
Background CHF has been shown to be associated with inflammatory
activation. Inflammation has been designated as a therapeutic target in
CHF.
Methods Patients with stable CHF were randomly assigned to colchicine
(0.5 mg twice daily) or placebo for 6 months. The primary endpoint was
the proportion of patients achieving at least one-grade improvement in
New York Heart Association class.
Results Two hundred sixty-seven patients were available for final
evaluation of the primary endpoint: its rate was 11% in the control
group and 14% in the colchicine group (odds ratio: 1.40; 95%
confidence interval: 0.67 to 2.93; p = 0.365). The rate of the composite
of death or hospital stay for heart failure was 9.4% in the control
group, compared with 10.1% in the colchicine group (p = 0.839). The
changes in treadmill exercise time with treatment were insignificant and
similar in the 2 groups (p = 0.938). C-reactive protein and
interleukin-6 were both significantly reduced in the colchicine group
(-5.1 mg/l and -4.8 pg/ml, respectively; p < 0.001 for both, compared
with the control group).
Conclusions According to this prospective, randomized study,
anti-inflammatory treatment with colchicine in patients with stable CHF,
although effective in reducing inflammation biomarker levels, did not
affect in any significant way patient functional status (in terms of New
York Heart Association class and objective treadmill exercise tolerance)
or the likelihood of death or hospital stay for heart failure. (C) 2014
by the American College of Cardiology Foundation"
}