... hypothesize that DMARD use, in particular MTX use, results in powerful suppression of inflammation, thereby reducing the development of atherosclerosis and subsequently clinicallyovert CVD. Introduction Cardiovascular ... andmortality, either by a decreased functional capacity [10], or by the underlying inflammatory process. There is growing evi-dence that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease [11,12].Moreover, inflammation ... for dichotomic variables. The dataset was categorized into groups according to the useever of sulfasalazine (SSZ), hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) orMTX, either as monotherapy or as combinations of...