Fetuin-A and atherosclerotic calcified plaque in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Fetuin-A is a multifunctional circulating glycoprotein. Among its roles, inhibition of ectopic calcification is a prominent feature. Low fetuin-A levels in dialysis patients are associated with cardiovascular mortality, possibly via accelerating vascular calcification. However, except for dialyzed conditions, a correlation between fetuin-A levels and vascular calcification remains controversial. Furthermore, any inhibitory effect of fetuin-A on atherosclerotic calcified plaques (CPs) remains unclear compared with its effect on medial artery calcification that is often found in dialyzed patients. Therefore, we examined the association between fetuin-A levels and atherosclerotic CPs. For this study, 416 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and without renal dysfunction were examined. We measured serum fetuin-A levels and investigated for the presence of CP in the common carotid and femoral arteries using ultrasonography. Fetuin-A levels were significantly lower in patients with CP than those without CP (262.6 +/- 56.7 and 281.5 +/- 64.6 microg/mL, respectively; P = .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that fetuin-A levels were inversely associated with the presence of CP (odds ratio = 0.753; 95% confidence interval, 0.608-0.933; P = .010). These results suggest that fetuin-A may inhibit the calcification of atherosclerotic plaques independently of the dialyzed condition.
Emoto
Masanori
M
The Department of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
Mori
Katsuhito
K
Lee
Eiko
E
Kawano
Naoya
N
Yamazaki
Yuko
Y
Tsuchikura
Shoko
S
Morioka
Tomoaki
T
Koyama
Hidenori
H
Shoji
Tetsuo
T
Inaba
Masaaki
M
Nishizawa
Yoshiki
Y
D000368:Aged; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D014463:Ultrasonography; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins