Relationship between circulating PCSK9 and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis—the IMPROVE study

Coggi, D. et al. (2021) Relationship between circulating PCSK9 and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis—the IMPROVE study. Biomedicines, 9(7), 841. (doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9070841) (PMCID:PMC8301759)

Abstract

(1) Background and purpose: circulating proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is one of the key regulators of cholesterol metabolism. Despite this, its role as a player in atherosclerosis development is still matter of debate. Here, we investigated the relationships between this protein and several markers of subclinical atherosclerosis. (2) Methods: the IMPROVE study enrolled 3703 European subjects (54–79 years; 48% men; with ≥3 vascular risk factors), asymptomatic for cardiovascular diseases. PCSK9 levels were measured by ELISA. B-mode ultrasound was used to measure markers of carotid subclinical atherosclerosis. (3) Results: in the crude analysis, PCSK9 levels were associated with several baseline measures of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) (all p 0.0001); with cIMT change over time (Fastest-IMTmax-progr) (p = 0.01); with inter-adventitia common carotid artery diameter (ICCAD) (p 0.0001); and with the echolucency (Grey Scale Median; GSM) of both carotid plaque and plaque-free common carotid IMT (both p 0.0001). However, after adjustment for age, sex, latitude, and pharmacological treatment, all the afore-mentioned correlations were no longer statistically significant. The lack of correlation was also observed after stratification for sex, latitude, and pharmacological treatments. (4) Conclusions: in subjects who are asymptomatic for cardiovascular diseases, PCSK9 plasma levels do not correlate with vascular damage and/or subclinical atherosclerosis of extracranial carotid arteries.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Strawbridge, Dr Rona

Creator Roles

Strawbridge, R. J.: Resources, Visualization, Funding acquisition

• Authors: Coggi, D., Frigerio, B., Bonomi, A., Ruscica, M., Ferri, N., Sansaro, D., Ravani, A., Ferrante, P., Damigella, M., Veglia, F., Capra, N., Lupo, M. G., Macchi, C., Savonen, K., Silveira, A., Kurl, S., Giral, P., Pirro, M., Strawbridge, R. J., Gigante, B., Smit, A. J., Tremoli, E., Amato, M., and Baldassarre, D.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Journal Name: Biomedicines
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2227-9059
• ISSN (Online): 2227-9059
• Published Online: 19 July 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Biomedicines 9(7): 841
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
302131		Understanding the excess risk of cardiometabolic disease in individuals with serious mental illness	Jill Pell	Medical Research Council (MRC)	MR/S003061/1	HW - Public Health