In a new study, researchers found drug colchicine reduces the risk of major heart events in patients with chronic coronary disease.
The research was conducted by a team at GenesisCare, Australia.
Over a decade, more than one in three heart patients will have another heart attack or stroke, or die from heart disease, despite taking preventive medication.
This study shows that this could be reduced to one in four with the addition of low-dose colchicine.
Colchicine, originally derived from the bulb of the crocus plant, has been used since ancient times to treat inflammation.
Now synthetically made, it is a generic medication taken to treat gout. The drug also inhibits several inflammatory pathways known to be important in atherosclerosis.
The current LoDoCo (Low Dose Colchicine) pilot trial suggested that colchicine 0.5 mg once daily was safe and effective for preventing cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease.
The team tested 5,552 patients who had chronic coronary disease and were tolerant of colchicine during a 30-day test.
They received colchicine 0.5 mg daily or matching placebo on a background of lipid-lowering and antithrombotic therapy.
The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, heart attacks, stroke, or blocked coronary arteries.
During a median follow-up of almost 30 months, the symptoms occurred in 187 (6.8%) patients in the colchicine group and 264 (9.6%) patients in the placebo group.
When the symptoms were analyzed separately, a consistent trend was seen with heart attacks, and blocked coronary arteries were both much less in the colchicine group.
In addition, more than 90% of patients were tolerant of open-label colchicine. Of those who were intolerant, most reported gut symptoms.
During a maximum follow-up of five years, low-dose colchicine was not linked to any serious adverse effects.
The study findings confirmed that low-dose colchicine was tolerated over the long-term and strongly reduced the risk of heart disease by almost one-third.
The team says the benefits were seen soon after initiating therapy, continued to accrue over time, and were seen patients already receiving other effective prevention therapies.
One author of the study is Dr. Mark Nidorf of GenesisCare.
The study was presented at ESC Congress 2020.
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