2 Jun 2023 • For patients with chronic coronary artery disease, colchicine is associated with a reduced incidence of total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement (THR) versus placebo, according to a study published online May 30 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers examined whether colchicine reduces TKRs and THRs in an exploratory analysis of the Low-Dose Colchicine 2 randomized trial involving 5,522 patients with chronic coronary artery disease at 43 centers in Australia and the Netherlands.

• Participants were randomly assigned to 0.5 mg colchicine or placebo once daily (2,762 and 2,760 patients) during a median follow-up of 28.6 months.
• The researchers found that TKR or THR was performed in 2.5 and 3.5 percent of patients in the colchicine and placebo groups
• In this exploratory analysis of the LoDoCo2 trial, use of colchicine, 0.5 mg daily, was associated with a lower incidence of TKR and THR. Further investigation of colchicine therapy to slow disease progression in osteoarthritis is warranted.

“We showed that colchicine, 0.5 mg daily, was associated with a lower incidence of TKR and THR compared with placebo in patients with chronic coronary artery disease,” the authors write. “This suggests that colchicine may slow the progression of osteoarthritis, but this needs to be confirmed in an appropriately designed prospective placebo-controlled trial.”

Source: Annals of Internal Medicine | Read full story