Soluble vascular adhesion protein-1 correlates with cardiovascular risk factors and early atherosclerotic manifestations

K Aalto, M Maksimow, M Juonala, J Viikari… - … , and vascular biology, 2012 - Am Heart Assoc
K Aalto, M Maksimow, M Juonala, J Viikari, A Jula, M Kähönen, S Jalkanen, OT Raitakari…
Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 2012Am Heart Assoc
Objective—Vascular adhesion protein-1 is an endothelial enzyme that regulates leukocyte
traffic and contributes to vascular damage in animal models. The relations of soluble
vascular adhesion protein-1 (sVAP-1) with cardiovascular risk factors and markers of
subclinical atherosclerosis at a population level have not been studied. Methods and
Results—We developed a new high-throughput method and measured sVAP-1 activities in
serum of 2183 persons (The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study). In women, sVAP-1 …
Objective
Vascular adhesion protein-1 is an endothelial enzyme that regulates leukocyte traffic and contributes to vascular damage in animal models. The relations of soluble vascular adhesion protein-1 (sVAP-1) with cardiovascular risk factors and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis at a population level have not been studied.
Methods and Results
We developed a new high-throughput method and measured sVAP-1 activities in serum of 2183 persons (The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study). In women, sVAP-1 activity correlated indirectly with body mass index (r=−0.15, P<0.0001), triglycerides (r=−0.13, P<0.0001), C-reactive protein (r=−0.23; P<0.0001), and brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation (r=−0.076, P=0.0089) and directly with carotid plaques (r=0.066, P=0.023). None of these correlations was significant in men. In women, all these univariate correlations remained significant after adjustment for body mass index, and direct correlations with LDL-cholesterol (r=0.094, P=0.0014) and carotid intima-media thickness (r=0.075, P=0.010) became evident. In men, sVAP-1 activity associated directly with glucose (r=0.074, P=0.020), intima-media thickness (r=0.072, P=0.025), metabolic syndrome (P=0.016), and type 1 (P=0.0002) and type 2 (P<0.0001) diabetes. In multivariable analyses, sVAP-1 activity was an independent determinant of carotid intima-media thickness (P=0.0072) and plaques [odds ratio 1.71 (95% confidence interval 1.07–2.72, P=0.025] in women, but not in men.
Conclusion
sVAP-1 activity correlates directly with intima-media thickness and carotid plaques in general population and may play a role in the pathophysiology of preclinical atherosclerosis.
Am Heart Assoc