The monocytic lineage specific soluble CD163 is a plasma marker of coronary atherosclerosis.
BACKGROUND
CD163 is a monocyte-macrophage lineage specific scavenger receptor that mediates the uptake and clearance of haptoglobin-haemoglobin complexes, and soluble CD163 (sCD163) is also present in plasma. As atherosclerosis involves infiltration by monocyte-derived macrophages, we investigated whether sCD163 may act as a marker of coronary atherosclerosis (CAD).


RESULTS
Clinical features were identified and plasma was collected from 147 consecutive patients presenting for coronary angiography. Patients were classified as having CAD+, or being free of CAD- haemodynamically significant (>50% luminal diameter) coronary stenoses in one or more major coronary arteries (1, 2 or 3 vessel disease), and sCD163 concentration was measured by ELISA. Plasma sCD163 was non-parametrically distributed, being significantly higher in CAD+ patients (median 2.47 mg/L, 25th-75th percentile, 1.79-3.5mg/L) than in CAD- patients (2.09, 1.31-2.72 mg/L) (p=0.021, Mann-Whitney U-test). LogsCD163 increased significantly with increasing CAD extent (p=0.0036) and was significantly greater in patients with 3 vessel disease than in CAD- patients (p<0.001). Whereas logsCD163 correlated with CAD extent (Spearman r=0.22, p=0.008), logCRP did not, and sCD163 was only weakly correlated with CRP (r=0.19, p=0.039). Importantly, multivariate linear regression identified that sCD163 (p=0.0021) was a significant predictor of CAD extent and was independent of conventional risk factors age (p<0.0001), hypercholesterolemia (p=0.0023), hypertension (p=0.068), and current smoking (p=0.066).


CONCLUSIONS
The monocyte-specific marker sCD163 is a novel potential plasma marker of coronary atherosclerotic burden.
Clinical Research Group, The Heart Research Institute, Sydney, Australia.
Lina Panayiota
LP
Aristoteli
Holger Jon
HJ
Møller
Brian
B
Bailey
Søren Kragh
SK
Moestrup
Leonard
L
Kritharides
D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood*; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000097:blood*; D051116:Receptors, Scavenger / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D000098902:CD163 Antigen
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D015415:Biomarkers; D000098902:CD163 Antigen; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D051116:Receptors, Scavenger; D002097:C-Reactive Protein