Implication of lipocalin-2 and visfatin levels in patients with coronary heart disease.
OBJECTIVE
Visfatin and lipocalin-2 are novel adipokines associated with insulin resistance (IR) and obesity-related metabolic disorders. We compared lipocalin-2 and visfatin concentrations between patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and control subjects and evaluated their association with cardiovascular risk factors.


METHODS
We examined serum visfatin, lipocalin-2 levels, and cardiovascular risk factors in 91 subjects (49 patients with angiographically confirmed CHD versus 42 age- and gender-matched control participants).


RESULTS
Circulating lipocalin-2 levels were significantly higher in patients with CHD compared with the control subjects (82.6+/-38.7 ng/ml versus 43.8+/-27.8 ng/ml; P<0.001). However, visfatin levels were not significantly different between patients with CHD and control subjects. Serum lipocalin-2 levels were positively associated with weight (r=0.26; P=0.036), fasting insulin (r=0.36; P=0.003), and IR (r=0.33; P=0.007), whereas these levels showed a negative correlation with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (r=-0.30; P=0.016) after adjustment for gender and body mass index. However, visfatin levels were not associated with any variables of the metabolic syndrome. The multiple regression analysis showed that lipocalin-2 levels were independently associated with HDL cholesterol and IR (R2=0.199). Furthermore, the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that systolic blood pressure, IR, and lipocalin-2 levels were independently associated with CHD.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum lipocalin-2 levels were significantly elevated in patients with CHD and were independently associated with CHD. The present findings suggest that the measurement of serum lipocalin-2 levels may be useful for assessing CHD risk.
Choi
K M
KM
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 152-050, South Korea.
Lee
J S
JS
Kim
E J
EJ
Baik
S H
SH
Seo
H S
HS
Choi
D S
DS
Oh
D J
DJ
Park
C G
CG
D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D000071068:Lipocalin-2; D054834:Lipocalins / Q000097:blood*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000097:blood*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D012307:Risk Factors
D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; D007328:Insulin; C489506:LCN2 protein, human; D000071068:Lipocalin-2; D054834:Lipocalins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase