title: Osteoprotegerin independently predicts mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease: the CLARICOR trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elucidate the prognostic power of serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum OPG levels were measured in the CLARICOR trial cohort of 4063 patients with stable CAD on blood samples drawn at randomization. The follow-up was 2.6 years for detailed cardiovascular events and 6 years for all-cause mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  OPG levels were significantly increased in non-survivors (21%) compared to survivors (median [quartiles] 2092 ng/L [1636; 2800] compared to 1695 ng/L [1322; 2193, p < 0.0001]). The 2.6-year follow-up showed that OPG adds to the prediction of both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in combination with clinical risk factors (HR [one log10 unit increase] 6.1 [95% CI 2.4-15.6, p = 0.0001]) and HR 6.5 [95% CI 3.4-12.5, p < 0.0001], respectively). Similar, in the 6-year follow-up, OPG was found to be a strong predictor for all-cause mortality. Importantly, OPG remained an independent predictor of mortality even after adjustment for both clinical and conventional cardiovascular risk markers (HR 2.5 [95% CI 1.6-3.9, p < 0.0001]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum OPG has a long-lasting independent predictive power as to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death in patients with stable CAD.
authors.affiliation: The Medical Research Laboratory, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health, Aarhus University.
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bjerre
authors.forename: Jørgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hilden
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kastrup
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skoog
authors.forename: Jørgen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Hans J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kolmos
authors.forename: Gorm B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kjøller
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Winkel
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flyvbjerg
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gluud
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017291:Clarithromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D053244:Osteoprotegerin / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D053244:Osteoprotegerin; C506030:TNFRSF11B protein, human; D017291:Clarithromycin
keywords: Biomarker; OPG; cardiovascular disease; coronary artery disease; osteoprotegerin