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(Circulation. 2003;107:1729.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.
Clinical Investigation and Reports |
From the Vascular Biology Research Center and Department of Internal Medicine (K.K.W., N.A., C.A., H.J.), Human Genetics Center (E.B.) University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, and Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine (C.M.B.), Houston, Tex.
Correspondence to Kenneth K. Wu, MD, PhD, Division of Hematology, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin St, MSB 5.016, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail Kenneth.K.Wu{at}uth.tmc.edu
| Abstract |
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Methods and Results Using a nested case-cohort design, we measured sTM and sICAM in 317 incident CHD cases and 726 non-cases from the ARIC participants. Consistent with our previous reports, sICAM values in the upper versus the lower tertile increased the risk of CHD event by
2-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46 to 2.87) whereas sTM values in the lower versus the upper tertile increased CHD risk by
4-fold (95% CI, 2.80 to 5.74). Interaction between these 2 parameters was determined by weighted Cox proportional hazard regression. A significant interaction (P=0.038) was noted. Combinatorial analysis shows a significant increase in CHD risk ratio (RR) (4.66, 95% CI, 1.89 to 11.46) of the lower sTM/upper sICAM group versus the upper sTM/lower sICAM group. Individuals whose sTM values were in the upper tertile had a RR below 1, even when sICAM were in the upper tertile. The RR of lower tertile sTM was increased by sICAM in a tertile-dependent manner.
Conclusion Weighted Cox proportional hazard analysis shows a significant interaction between sTM and sICAM in predicting risk of CHD event. Combinatorial analysis reveals that an upper tertile sICAM had a significant increase in the risk of a CHD event only when sTM was in the lower tertile.
Key Words: glycoproteins cell adhesion molecules coronary disease risk factors
| Introduction |
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Thus, a high level of sTM signifies protection and has a lower risk of CHD, whereas a high sICAM level signifies an inflammatory state and increases risk of CHD. We postulated that sTM interacts with sICAM in predicting CHD risk. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the risk ratio of sTM and sICAM in ARIC CHD cases and random reference cohort by a combinatorial approach.
| Methods |
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Baseline Measurements
Blood pressure, anthropometry, carotid sonography, cigarette smoking, and other lifestyle parameters were determined during the first visit (1987 to 1989) by standardized procedures described previously.10 Venous blood was collected during the first visit according to standardized venipuncture and processing procedures.11 The processed plasma and serum samples were stored at -80°C until assay. sTM and sICAM levels in plasma were measured by enzyme immunoassays as described previously.4,6 Other coagulation and lipid parameters were measured by standardized methods, which have been described previously.10 The laboratory intra-assay coefficients of variation (CV) for sTM and sICAM were 6.0% and 4.4%, respectively, and the inter-assay CVs were 8.2% and 7.4%, respectively.
Data Analysis
We used a case-cohort design for this analysis.12,13 Plasma sTM and sICAM were determined in all 317 incident CHD cases and 726 non-cases. We defined 8 strata for sampling the cohort, as previously described.10 To account for the stratified sampling design in analyses, we weighted each observation with each stratum by the inverse of sampling fraction for that stratum, thereby recreating the original frequency distribution of the strata in the entire cohort. We first used ANCOVA to compute age-, race-, and sex-adjusted mean levels of sICAM and sTM for CHD cases and non-cases after appropriate weighting for the stratified sampling design. We also used ANCOVA to compute age-, race-, and sex-adjusted mean or percentage values of study variables according to the upper and lower tertiles of sTM and sICAM in the cohort sample after appropriate weighting for the stratified sampling design. We computed the risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the time to the development of CHD in relation to sTM and sICAM using a weighted proportional hazard regression previously described by Barlow.13 We examined if there was a significant interaction between sTM and sICAM by weighted Cox proportional hazard regression. We trichotomized the sTM and sICAM levels to determine the risk ratios of upper tertile sTM/lower tertile sICAM (u T/l I) versus 8 other groups: u T/u I, u T/middle tertile sICAM (m I), m T/u I, m T/m I, m T/l I, l T/u I, l T/m I and l T/l I. We examined if the baseline characteristics were significantly different between the reference and 8 comparison groups by using Bonferroni correction to adjust for the effect of multiple-group comparisons. A probability value less than 0.0062 (=0.05/8) was considered significant.
| Results |
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After adjusting for age, sex, race, and several conventional risk factors (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglyceride, systolic blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, fibrinogen, and WBC), the risk ratio (RR) for the time to develop a CHD event of the l T/u I group was significantly higher (RR=4.66, 95% CI, 1.89, 11.46), whereas the RR of the u T/m I group was significantly lower (RR=0.37, 95% CI, 0.14, 0.95) than that of the reference group (u T/l I). The RR of the u T/u I group was also below 1, but the difference was not statistically significant (Figure 1). The 3 groups with sTM values at the lower tertile exhibited a graded increase in RR according to the tertile of sICAM: 4.66 for the l T/u I, 2.5 for the l T/m I, and 1.39 for the l T/l I group (Figure 1). The 3 groups with sICAM values at the upper tertile also exhibited a sTM tertile-dependent increase in RR. The RR of the m T/u I group (2.35) was between that of l T/u I and u T/u I (Figure 1). The remaining 2 groups (m T/l I and m T/m I) had a RR less than 1 which, however, was not significantly different from the reference.
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| Discussion |
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The plasma level of sTM in healthy ARIC participants could be influenced by the level of endothelial TM expression, the rate of its basal cleavage, and changes in TM expression and cleavage caused by subclinical inflammation. Inflammation has been recognized as a major component in the pathophysiology of atherothrombosis, and inflammatory markers are associated with an increased risk of CHD.15,16 Proinflammatory mediators have been reported to suppress endothelial TM expression and thus may reduce the level of sTM.17,18 On the other hand, proinflammatory mediators induce ICAM-1 expression, increase cleavage of ICAM-1, and increase sICAM levels.19,20 Thus, a high sICAM and a low sTM level could represent a highly active inflammatory state and would be anticipated to have a high risk of CHD events. Our data support the role of inflammation in unstable plaque and the consequent plaque rupture and thrombosis.21
Results from our study open a new avenue for assessing risk of CHD. Conventional risk assessment by biochemical markers tends to evaluate the risk ratio of a single marker and, in the case of multiple markers, tends to be random without a clear pathophysiological basis. Our results show that the CHD risk may be more clearly defined by coupling two markers with opposite pathophysiological indications than by each individual marker. Because the occurrence of an arterial thrombotic event is determined by a balance between prothrombotic and antithrombotic factors, the combinatorial analysis may be extended to include additional factors. For example, results from ARIC studies have shown an association of several procoagulant factors and fibrinolytic factors with the risk of CHD events.10,22 We have carried out a preliminary combinatorial analysis to determine the interaction of sTM with prothrombotic factors, and the results show a positive interaction of sTM with fibrinogen, factor VIII, and von Willebrand factor levels. Work is in progress to characterize the risk by combinatorial analysis.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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This article originally appeared Online on March 31, 2003 (Circulation. 2003;107:r66r69).
Received November 13, 2002; revision received February 12, 2003; accepted February 18, 2003.
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