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. 2022 Jun 8:9:854624.
doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.854624. eCollection 2022.

Lipoprotein(a) Modulates Carotid Atherosclerosis in Metabolic Syndrome

Anna Laura Cremonini  1   2 , Andrea Pasta  1 , Federico Carbone  1   2 , Luca Visconti  1 , Matteo Casula  1 , Edoardo Elia  1 , Aldo Bonaventura  1   3 , Luca Liberale  1   2 , Maria Bertolotto  1 , Nathan Artom  4 , Silvia Minetti  1 , Paola Contini  1   2 , Daniela Verzola  1 , Roberto Pontremoli  1   2 , Francesca Viazzi  1   2 , Giorgio Luciano Viviani  1 , Stefano Bertolini  1 , Aldo Pende  1   2 , Fabrizio Montecucco  1   2 , Livia Pisciotta  1   2
Affiliations

Lipoprotein(a) Modulates Carotid Atherosclerosis in Metabolic Syndrome

Anna Laura Cremonini et al. Front Mol Biosci. .

Abstract

Background and Aim: High lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a well-established cardiovascular (CV) risk factor, but the effect of mildly elevated Lp(a) on CV health is largely unknown. Our aim was to evaluate if Lp(a) is associated with the severity of carotid atherosclerosis (CA) in the specific subset of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Patients and Methods: Subjects with diagnosed MetS and ultrasound-assessed CA were enrolled. Those patients were categorized according to the severity of CA (moderate vs. severe), and the circulating levels of Lp(a) alongside with clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical data were collected. Results: Sixty-five patients were finally included: twenty-five with moderate and forty with severe CA (all with asymptomatic disease). Intergroup comparison showed Lp(a) as the only significantly different variable [6 (2-12) mg/dl vs. 11.5 (6-29.5) mg/dl; p = 0.018]. Circulating levels of Lp(a) were also confirmed as the only variable independently associated with severity of CA at logistic regression analysis [OR 2.9 (95% CI 1.1-7.8); p = 0.040]. ROC curve analysis for Lp(a) confirmed a serum level of 10 mg/dl as the best cut-off value [AUC 0.675 (95% CI 0.548-0.786)]. Although sensitivity and specificity were suboptimal (69.0 and 70.4%, respectively)-likely due to the small sample size-this result is in line with those previously reported in the literature. Conclusion: Lp(a) is independently associated with severity of CA in the subgroup of MetS patients.

Keywords: ASCVD; atherosclerosis; cardiovascular disease; lipoprotein (a); metabolic syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Forest plot reporting logistic regression analysis for clinical and biochemical variables associated with more severe carotid atherosclerosis. Data are presented as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). MetS, metabolic syndrome; ASCVD, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; Lp(a), lipoprotein(a); HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin; CRP, C-reactive protein; BMI, body mass index.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
ROC curve illustrating the association between Lp(a) and the severity of carotid atherosclerosis of the cut-off value for carotid atherosclerosis. Sens, sensibility; Spec, specificity; AUC, area under the curve.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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