title: Blood soluble Fas levels and mortality from cardiovascular disease in middle-aged Japanese: The JACC study.
abstract: Limited evidence has been available on the relationship between apoptosis and cardiovascular disease in population-based samples. We examined whether blood soluble Fas (sFas) are associated with mortality from cardiovascular diseases.
  
  
  
  In a nested case-control study under a large prospective cohort, the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study, where a total of 39,242 subjects, 40-79 years of age, provided serum samples and were followed up for 9 years, we measured sFas levels among cases and controls, matched for sex, age, area of residence and year of serum storage. Conditional logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratio (95% CI) of mortality from stroke and stroke types, according to quartiles and 1-SD increment of sFas levels.
  
  
  
  During the follow-up (1988-1997), we identified 233 (121 in men and 112 in women) deaths from total stroke, comprising 49 (18 and 31) subarachnoid hemorrhages, 55 (27 and 28) intraparenchymal hemorrhages, 71 (44 and 27) ischemic strokes, and 97 (53 and 44) coronary heart diseases. After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, the multivariable odds ratio (95% CI) of subarachnoid hemorrhage associated with a 1-SD increment of sFas (1.3 ng/ml in both men and women) was 4.04 (1.07-15.3; p = 0.04). No association was found between blood sFas levels and risk of intraparenchymal hemorrhage, ischemic stroke or coronary heart disease.
  
  
  
  Higher blood sFas levels were associated with higher mortality from subarachnoid hemorrhage, suggesting a potential role of apoptosis factors in the development or prognosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage.
authors.affiliation: Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamadoka, 2-2 Suita-shi, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan. Electronic address: iso@pbhel.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iso
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Koutatsu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.affiliation: Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamadoka, 2-2 Suita-shi, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Main Raod, Shalabyland, Minia, 61511, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ehab S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Eshak
authors.affiliation: Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamadoka, 2-2 Suita-shi, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan; Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Osaka Medical College, 2-7 Daigaku-machi, Takatsuki, Osaka, 569-8686, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikehara
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 15 Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamakoshi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013997:Time Factors; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C491901:FAS protein, human; D019014:fas Receptor
keywords: Biomarkers; Coronary heart disease; Mortality; Nested-case control study; Stroke; Subarachnoid hemorrhage