title: Circulating angiopoietin-2, its soluble receptor Tie-2, and mortality in the general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the association of circulating concentrations of angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and its soluble receptor Tie-2 (sTie-2) with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality in a population-based sample.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Angiopoietin-2 and sTie-2 were measured in 3220 participants (1665 women; mean age 54.4 years) in the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models. During a median follow-up of 6.2 years, 217 participants died. Ang-2 levels were positively associated with all-cause mortality [HR 1.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19-1.39 per 1 SD increment; P < 0.001] and cardiovascular mortality (HR 1.32; 95% CI 1.18-1.49; P < 0.001), but not with cancer mortality (HR 1.08; 95% CI 0.89-1.32; P = 0.416). Levels of sTie-2 were not significantly related to all-cause mortality (HR 1.12; 95% CI 0.98-1.27; P = 0.102). Adding Ang-2 to a prediction model for all-cause mortality with standard risk factors slightly improved discrimination (Δ Harrell's C, 0.008; P < 0.001) but not risk reclassification (continuous net reclassification improvement, -0.015; P = 0.571).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our community-based sample, higher serum Ang-2 concentrations were associated with greater risk for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, suggesting that subtle increases in Ang-2 levels might reflect processes such as vascular remodelling that are associated with higher mortality risk. Adding Ang-2 to a mortality prediction model only modestly improved discrimination.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Community Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lorbeer
authors.forename: Sebastian E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Baumeister
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dörr
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nauck
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grotevendt
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Völzke
authors.forename: Ramachandran S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Vasan
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wallaschofski
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lieb
mesh_terms: D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D011159:Population Surveillance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D042787:Receptor, TIE-2 / Q000097:blood*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D042702:Angiopoietin-2; D042787:Receptor, TIE-2
keywords: Angiopoietin-2; Mortality; Population; Receptor Tie-2