title: New marker of platelet activation, SCUBE1, is elevated in hypertensive patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is associated with an increase in platelet activation and endothelial dysfunction and leads to a tendency to cardiovascular events (CVEs). Signal peptide-CUB-EGF domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE1) is a novel platelet activation marker. There are currently no studies showing the level of SCUBE1 in hypertensive patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of SCUBE1 in this patient group and to investigate the parameters affecting that level.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five newly diagnosed, untreated, stage 1 hypertensive patients and 21 healthy individuals were included. Blood specimens were collected to determine SCUBE1, soluble CD40 ligand, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, D dimer, hemogram, lipid parameters, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and uric acid levels. The relation between SCUBE1 level and demographic data and biochemical parameters was then investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SCUBE1 and sCD40L levels obtained from plasma specimens from the hypertensive group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.001; P < 0.05, respectively). Hypertensive group blood pressure (BP) values and uric acid, low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were also statistically higher than those of the control group. Parameters affecting SCUBE1 levels were systolic and diastolic BP, sCD40L, lipid parameters, and uric acid levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We show elevated levels of SCUBE1, a novel platelet activation marker, in primary hypertensive patients. We think that, when supported by further clinical studies, this newly described marker may be useful in the monitoring of CVEs in this patient group, in which platelet activation is known to be associated with such events.
authors: Department of Nephrology, Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey. gulsumozkan78@hotmail.com
authors: Gülsüm
authors: G
authors: Özkan
authors: Sukru
authors: S
authors: Ulusoy
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Menteşe
authors: S Caner
authors: SC
authors: Karahan
authors: Muammer
authors: M
authors: Cansiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D015539:Platelet Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C469998:SCUBE1 protein, human
keywords: SCUBE1.; blood pressure; hypertension; platelet activation; sCD40L; signal peptide-CUB-EGF domain–containing protein 1