Serum adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein is independently associated with coronary atherosclerotic burden measured by intravascular ultrasound
Received 6 August 2009; received in revised form 18 January 2010; accepted 25 January 2010. published online 02 March 2010.
Abstract
Objectives
Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) has been shown to have an effect on insulin resistance, lipid metabolism, and atherosclerosis in animals. We therefore investigated the association between the serum A-FABP level and coronary atherosclerosis.
Methods
One hundred twenty-five consecutive patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled after coronary angiography. Plaque volume in non-culprit coronary arteries was determined using intravascular ultrasound and expressed as percent plaque volume (%PV). Voluntary blood donors (n=120), matched for age and gender, served as controls. Serum levels of A-FABP, adiponectin, and inflammatory markers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results
The serum A-FABP level in CAD patients was significantly higher than in control subjects (median [25th–75th percentiles], 27.2 [20.5–37.1]ng/mL vs. 18.9 [14.6–24.5]ng/mL) (p<0.01). Serum A-FABP showed 0.74 of the area under the curve in the receiver operating characteristic curve for the detection of CAD, with 76% specificity and 65% sensitivity with a cut-off value of 20.1ng/mL. Further, in CAD patients, serum A-FABP had a significant correlation with %PV in all subjects (r=0.33, p<0.01). Serum A-FABP was positively correlated with the body mass index, serum interleukin-6 and high-sensitive CRP, and negatively correlated with HDL-cholesterol and serum adiponectin in CAD patients. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that serum A-FABP was independently associated with %PV.
Conclusion
Increased serum A-FABP was significantly associated with a greater coronary plaque burden. Our findings revealed that the measurement of serum A-FABP could be utilized for the evaluation of the extent of coronary atherosclerosis.
aDepartment of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
bDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
cDepartment of Cardiology, Sakakibara Heart Institute of Okayama, Okayama, Japan
dDepartment of Medical Technology, Okayama University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Okayama, Japan
eDepartment of Cardiology, Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital, Kagawa, Japan
ABSTRACT