New clinical trial shows anti-inflammatory medication reduces heart plaque

May 19, 2025 at 06:01 AM EDT

(BPT) - Is heart disease on your radar? While the subject can be scary, the good news is that medical advancements have found new and efficient ways to manage the risk factors that can lead to cardiovascular diseases.

Take coronary atherosclerosis, for example. This condition occurs when fats, cholesterol and other substances build up in blood vessels, creating plaque on artery walls. Over time, the plaque narrows the arteries, blocking blood flow, which can lead to more serious conditions like heart attack or stroke.

Inflammation plays a substantial role in the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. Managing and reducing inflammation can go a long way in managing coronary atherosclerosis and slowing the progression of cardiovascular disease.

That said, what if you could do more? What if, instead of merely slowing the progression of cardiovascular disease, you could actually turn back the clock on damaging arterial plaque? A recent clinical study suggests that a once-daily oral low-dose medication has the potential to address coronary inflammation and even shrink existing plaque.

Addressing plaque instability and reversing damage

Newly released results from the EKSTROM trial offer powerful evidence that low-dose colchicine has the potential to fundamentally change how clinicians combat heart disease.

Low-dose colchicine, 0.5 mg, is indicated to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, coronary revascularization, and cardiovascular death in adult patients with established atherosclerotic disease or with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This anti-inflammatory medication addresses the root cause of heart disease by targeting inflammation, helping stabilize "vulnerable" plaques prone to rupture.

According to the EKSTROM trial findings, the anti-inflammatory treatment improved several measures of plaque volume changes over a period of 12 months in patients with stable coronary artery disease compared to a placebo. The study also found that low-dose colchicine doesn't just slow the progression of plaque but also offers meaningful regression of non-calcified, fibrous and fibro-fatty plaque.

"Our findings demonstrate how low-dose colchicine, 0.5 mg, can prevent heart attack and stroke in high-risk patients with established cardiovascular disease by reducing plaques in the coronary arteries," said Matthew J. Budoff, M.D., lead clinician of the EKSTROM trial, investigator at The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center and program director and director of Cardiac Computed Tomography (CT), Division of Cardiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

This isn't the first time researchers have studied the potential therapeutic benefits of low-dose colchicine. The EKSTROM trial is the third major study suggesting that low-dose colchicine can regress and stabilize plaque, following key findings from a clinical trial in acute coronary syndrome (the COLOCT study) and an important systematic review in JAMA Cardiology.

By directly reducing inflammation - a key contributor to plaque instability - low-dose colchicine could help prevent heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients, reduce hospitalizations and possibly cut long-term health care costs. Together with statins and antihypertensives, this anti-inflammatory therapy now stands poised to become a vital pillar in cardiovascular disease management.

Determine your risk

Do you have atherosclerosis? If you're not sure, you can find out with just three simple, universally available tests that measure your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels. These tests can detect the risk of vascular atherosclerosis decades before a life-threatening heart attack or stroke.

While you may be familiar with LDL and Lp(a), you may not have heard of hs-CRP, an inflammation biomarker. Should the test reveal that you have high hs-CRP levels, your doctor may recommend you take once-daily low-dose colchicine, 0.5 mg, in addition to your current treatment regimen.

To learn more about low-dose colchicine, its role in reducing inflammation and to check your own risk using our risk assessment quiz, visit CVDInflammation.com.

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New clinical trial shows anti-inflammatory medication reduces heart plaque

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