Association between neopterin and carotid intima-media thickness in hemodialysis patients.
BACKGROUND
Atherosclerotic lesions are heavily infiltrated by macrophages. Neopterin can be used as a marker of the activity of macrophages. Serum neopterin levels were elevated in non-renal patients with atherosclerosis. The intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid arteries in hemodialysis patients was significantly higher than in control subjects. In this study, we measured serum neopterin levels in hemodialysis patients and evaluated a possible correlation between neopterin levels and carotid IMT.


METHODS
Thirty-seven hemodialysis patients (26 male/11 female, mean age 47 +/- 15 years) and 12 healthy subjects (8 male/4 female, mean age 43 +/- 10 years) were included in this study. Serum neopterin levels were measured by using a commercial ELISA kit. Carotid IMT of the subjects were measured by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography.


RESULTS
Carotid IMT values were 1.04 +/- 0.29 and 0.77 +/- 0.25 mm in hemodialysis patients and healthy controls, respectively (p < 0.01). Serum neopterin levels were 110.9 +/- 19.1 and 3.8 +/- 2.3 ng/ml in hemodialysis patients and healthy controls, respectively (p < 0.01). Serum neopterin levels were 103.2 +/- 21.3 ng/ml in hemodialysis patients with IMT < 1 mm (n = 15), and 116.7 +/- 15.4 ng/ml in hemodialysis patients with IMT > or = 1 mm (n = 22) (p < 0.05). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between serum neopterin levels and carotid IMT (p < 0.05, r = 0.363).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that neopterin could be associated with the severity of carotid atherosclerosis in hemodialysis patients.
Erten
Yasemin
Y
Department of Nephrology, Gazi University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Oztürk
M Akif
MA
Oktar
Suna
S
Pasaoglu
Hatice
H
Reis
Kadriye Altok
KA
Derici
Ulver
U
Elbeg
Sehri
S
Güz
Galip
G
Bali
Musa
M
Arinsoy
Turgay
T
Sindel
Sükrü
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin / Q000097:blood*; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology*
D015850:Interleukin-6; D019798:Neopterin