Published Online
on May 6, 2002

A more recent version of this article appeared on June 4, 2002

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Submitted on February 4, 2002
Revised on March 22, 2002
Accepted on March 22, 2002

Serum Elastase Activity, Serum Elastase Inhibitors, and Occurrence of Carotid Atherosclerotic Plaques. The Etude sur le Vieillissement Artériel (EVA) Study

Mahmoud Zureik MD, PhD^*, Ladislas Robert MD, Dominique Courbon BS, Pierre-Jean Touboul MD, Latifa Bizbiz MD, PhD, and Pierre Ducimetière PhD

From the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Unit 258 (M.Z., D.C., P.D.), Villejuif; Laboratoire de Biochimie du Tissu Conjonctif (R.L., L.B.) Creteil; and Centre de Diagnostic et de Prévention Neurovasculaire (P.J.T), Paris, France.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zureik{at}vjf.inserm.fr.

Background—In the last decades, interest has increased in the potential deleterious atherogenic effects of some cellular elastase activities. The results of experimental and clinical investigations were inconsistent. In this report, we assessed the associations of serum elastase activity and serum elastase inhibitors with carotid plaque occurrence during the 4-year follow-up in a population of 859 subjects free of coronary heart disease and stroke (age, 59 to 71 years).

Methods and Results—Serum elastase activity and serum elastase inhibitors were measured at baseline examination. Carotid B-mode ultrasound examination was performed at baseline and 2 years and 4 years later. The occurrence of carotid plaques in subjects with the lowest serum elastase activity values (quartile 1), in those with the intermediate values (quartiles 2 to 3), and in those with the highest values (quartile 4) was, respectively, 24.6%, 18.9%, and 12.2% (P<0.001 for trend). The multivariate odds ratios of carotid plaque occurrence associated with the three groups (adjusted for major known cardiovascular risk factors) were, respectively, 1.00, 0.67 (CI, 0.44 to 1.02; P<0.06), and 0.40 (CI, 0.23 to 0.70, P<0.001). For serum elastase inhibitors, the occurrence of carotid plaques in quartile 1 (lowest values), quartiles 2 to 3, and quartile 4 (highest values) was, respectively, 11.7%, 18.8%, and 25.2% (P for trend<0.001). The corresponding multivariate adjusted odds ratios were 1.00, 1.98 (CI, 1.19 to 3.31, P<0.01), and 3.18 (CI, 1.80 to 5.60, P<0.001).

Conclusions—Low values of serum elastase activity and high values of serum elastase inhibitors were strongly and independently associated with increased 4-year carotid plaque occurrence. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the nature of the associations between elastase parameters and atherosclerosis.

Key words: atherosclerosis • plaque • metalloproteinase • inflammation

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