Seeing Colchicine in a New Light: Repurposing Low-dose Colchicine for Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Purpose: This review presents a modern perspective on the cardiovascular re-purposing of colchicine, the oldest drug in the pharmacopeia other than aspirin that is still in regular use.

Methods: This article presents a brief overview of colchicine's long history as a medicine, as well as a critical review of safety and efficacy from the results of recent cardiovascular clinical trials.

Findings: Long-term continuous colchicine use at doses between 0.6 and 2.4 mg has been used to prevent inflammatory flares in patients with gout and familial Mediterranean fever and less commonly employed in a range of other inflammatory conditions. In these settings, lifelong therapy has been found to be safe and well tolerated. Understanding the central role of inflammation in atherosclerosis has led to the search for effective anti-inflammatory agents that can be used continuously in combination with a range of other medications, including lipid-lowering therapies, antiplatelet therapy, and anticoagulants. The results of recent robust randomized clinical trials of low-dose colchicine (0.5 mg daily) in patients with coronary disease recently led the US Food and Drug Administration to approve its use as a new cornerstone therapy for secondary prevention in patients with coronary disease. Several misconceptions regarding the safety and tolerability of low dose colchicine are addressed.

Implications: Colchicine has emerged from its traditional role in medicine as the prevention of gout flare as the first anti-inflammatory agent to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the secondary prevention of atherosclerosis.