title: Endocan--the new endothelial activation marker independently associated with soluble endothelial adhesion molecules in uraemic patients with cardiovascular disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endocan is a new marker of endothelial cell activation that mediates adhesion of leukocytes into endothelium. Soluble intercellular (sICAM-1) and vascular cellular (sVCAM-1) adhesion molecules play an important role in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. The aim of this study is to investigate whether endocan could affect the concentrations of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in CKD patients, particularly in those with CVD.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated plasma endocan, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and the markers of inflammation: high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs CRP), interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and their interrelationships in 53 CKD patients (both with and without CVD) and 29 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Endocan, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and inflammatory markers were significantly higher in CKD patients than in controls, and patients with CVD had levels significantly higher (except interleukin-6 and TNF-α) than those without CVD. The presence of CVD, ferritin, TNF-α and SBP were the independent predictors of endocan levels in the whole CKD group. In this group, the weak relationship was between endocan and sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1, but age was the only independent predictor of these adhesion molecules. The strong association between endocan and sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 was exclusively observed in subgroup with CVD, and the low % of lymphocytes followed by increased endocan was identified as the independent variables significantly associated with these soluble molecule levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that plasma endocan is significantly increased and independently associated with sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels in CKD patients with cardiovascular complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Monitored Pharmacotherapy, Bialystok, Poland. Electronic address: krystynapawlak@poczta.onet.pl.
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pawlak
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Clinical Transplantation, Bialystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mysliwiec
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacodynamics Medical University, Bialystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Dariusz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pawlak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000097:blood*; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000097:blood*; D014511:Uremia / Q000097:blood*; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C101134:ESM1 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Chronic kidney disease; Endocan; sICAM-1; sVCAM-1