title: Diagnostic Value of Serum YKL-40 Level for Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This meta-analysis aimed to identify the value of serum YKL-40 level for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Through searching the following electronic databases: the Cochrane Library Database (Issue 12, 2013), Web of Science (1945 ∼ 2013), PubMed (1966 ∼ 2013), CINAHL (1982 ∼ 2013), EMBASE (1980 ∼ 2013), and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM; 1982 ∼ 2013), related articles were determined without any language restrictions. STATA statistical software (Version 12.0, Stata Corporation, College Station, TX) was chosen to deal with statistical data. Standard mean difference (SMD) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven clinical case-control studies that recruited 1,175 CAD patients and 1,261 healthy controls were selected for statistical analysis. The main findings of our meta-analysis showed that serum YKL-40 level in CAD patients was significantly higher than that in control subjects (SMD = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.73 ∼ 3.85, P < 0.001). Ethnicity-stratified analysis indicated a higher serum YKL-40 level in CAD patients than control subjects among China, Korea, and Denmark populations (China: SMD = 2.97, 95% CI = 1.21 ∼ 4.74, P = 0.001; Korea: SMD = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.17 ∼ 1.15, P = 0.008; Denmark: SMD = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.42 ∼ 2.29, P < 0.001; respectively), but not in Turkey (SMD = 4.52, 95% CI = -2.87 ∼ 11.91, P = 0.231).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present meta-analysis suggests that an elevated serum YKL-40 level may be used as a promising diagnostic tool for early identification of CAD.
authors.forename: Chun-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Song
authors.lastname: Bin-Li
authors.forename: Hong-Ying
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Diao
authors.forename: Jiang-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong-fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Guan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zi-Yuan
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yang-Xue
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian-Gen
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jin-Peng
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ji-Chang
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yi-Hang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000097:blood*; D000368:Aged; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018401:Sample Size
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; C084533:CHI3L1 protein, human; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D037102:Lectins