Abstract
Colchicine is an ancient herbal drug derived from Colchicum autumnale. It was first used to treat familial Mediterranean fever and gout. Based on its unique efficacy as an anti-inflammatory agent, colchicine has been used in the therapy of cardiovascular diseases including coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, recurrent pericarditis, vascular restenosis, heart failure, and myocardial infarction. More recently, colchicine has also shown therapeutic efficacy in alleviating cardiovascular complications of COVID-19. COLCOT and LoDoCo2 are two milestone clinical trials that confirm the curative effect of long-term administration of colchicine in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease. There is growing interest in studying the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of colchicine. The anti-inflammatory action of colchicine is mediated mainly through inhibiting the assembly of microtubules. At the cellular level, colchicine inhibits the following: (1) endothelial cell dysfunction and inflammation; (2) smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration; (3) macrophage chemotaxis, migration, and adhesion; (4) platelet activation. At the molecular level, colchicine reduces proinflammatory cytokine release and inhibits NF-κB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In this review, we summarize the current clinical trials with proven curative effect of colchicine in treating cardiovascular diseases. We also systematically discuss the mechanisms of colchicine action in cardiovascular therapeutics. Altogether, colchicine, a bioactive constituent from an ancient medicinal herb, exerts unique anti-inflammatory effects and prominent cardiovascular actions, and will charter a new page in cardiovascular medicine.
【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Macrophage, Efficacy, platelet activation, clinical trial, therapy, Anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular diseases, NLRP3 inflammasome, Coronary artery disease, heart failure, Migration, Atherosclerosis, Patient, Colchicine, incidence, Myocardial infarction, molecular, Gout, mechanism, Endothelial cell, cellular, administration, cell proliferation, anti-inflammatory agent, dysfunction, cardiovascular complication, Proinflammatory cytokine, Activation, Vascular, therapeutic efficacy, anti-inflammatory action, treat, anti-inflammatory effect, chemotaxis, NF-κB signaling, Mediterranean fever, shown, inhibit, unique, reducing, reduce, inhibiting, cardiovascular event, Colchicum, curative, 【제목키워드】 Colchicine, pharmacological,