Serum osteoprotegerin levels and long-term prognosis in subjects with stable coronary artery disease.
BACKGROUND
Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secretory glycoprotein which belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. OPG immunoreactivity was demonstrated in normal blood vessels and in early atherosclerotic lesions. In a previous study, we showed that high serum OPG levels are associated with progression of coronary artery disease (CAD).


OBJECTIVE
The present study was designed to assess the association between serum OPG level and long-term prognosis in patients with stable coronary artery disease.


METHODS
We performed a prospective, observational cohort study in 225 subjects to examine whether serum OPG levels can predict cardiovascular mortality. The median OPG levels were 1.02 ng mL(-1) at baseline.


RESULTS
During the follow-up (61 + or - 25 months), 27 deaths occurred including 13 cardiovascular deaths. When the subjects were divided into three groups according to serum OPG level, the group with high serum OPG showed a higher risk for cardiovascular mortality. A Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model indicated that the higher risk of cardiovascular death in the high OPG level group remained significant (hazards ratio of 7.44, 95%CI 0.92-60.30, highest vs. lowest OPG tertile). In contrast, serum OPG levels were not associated with non-cardiovascular mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that serum OPG levels are an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease.
Department of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
S
S
Jono
S
S
Otsuki
Y
Y
Higashikuni
A
A
Shioi
K
K
Mori
K
K
Hara
H
H
Hashimoto
Y
Y
Ikari
D000368:Aged; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053244:Osteoprotegerin / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016019:Survival Analysis
D053244:Osteoprotegerin