Increased levels of serum pentraxin 3, a novel cardiovascular biomarker, in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease.
OBJECTIVE
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), a key component of innate immunity, is a strong marker of disease severity in coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to compare levels of serum PTX3 in CAD patients with and without inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD) and in healthy controls.


METHODS
We examined 69 patients with IRD (CAD/IRD group) and 53 patients without IRD (CAD/non-IRD) referred to coronary artery bypass grafting, and 30 healthy controls.


RESULTS
The mean +/- SD serum PTX3 level in the CAD/IRD group was 1.96 +/- 0.98 ng/ml; this was statistically significantly higher than that of the CAD/non-IRD (1.41 +/- 0.74 ng/ml) and healthy control (1.21 +/- 0.59 ng/ml) groups. In contrast to most other IRDs, serum PTX3 levels were relatively low in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other systemic connective tissue diseases. In sex- and age-adjusted analysis, IRD, acute coronary syndromes, and low alcohol intake were associated with higher serum PTX3 levels.


CONCLUSIONS
CAD patients with IRD had higher mean serum PTX3 levels than patients without IRD and healthy controls. In addition, acute coronary syndromes and low alcohol intake independently predicted higher serum PTX3 levels. Higher serum PTX3 levels in IRD may be related to the higher cardiovascular risk of IRD patients. Circulating PTX3 could likely be used as a biomarker for severity of cardiovascular disease in IRDs; its importance, however, might be limited in SLE and related disorders.
Hollan
Ivana
I
Feiring Heart Clinic, Feiring, and Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Lillehammer, Norway. i-hollan@online.no
Bottazzi
Barbara
B
Cuccovillo
Ivan
I
Førre
Øystein T
ØT
Mikkelsen
Knut
K
Saatvedt
Kjell
K
Almdahl
Sven Martin
SM
Mantovani
Alberto
A
Meroni
Pier Luigi
PL
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D000683:Serum Amyloid P-Component / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099153:Pentraxins
D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D000683:Serum Amyloid P-Component; D000099153:Pentraxins