Elevating circulation chemerin level is associated with endothelial dysfunction and early atherosclerotic changes in essential hypertensive patients : Journal of Hypertension

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ORIGINAL PAPERS: Blood vessels

Elevating circulation chemerin level is associated with endothelial dysfunction and early atherosclerotic changes in essential hypertensive patients

Gu, Pinga,*; Cheng, Maoweib,*; Hui, Xiaoyanc,*; Lu, Bina; Jiang, Weimind; Shi, Zhaoronge

Author Information

aDepartment of Endocrinology, Jinling Hospital/Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

bDepartment of Neurology, the 309th Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing, P.R. China

cState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong S. A. R.

dDepartment of Cardiology, Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing

eJinling Hospital/Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China

*Ping Gu, Maowei Cheng, and Xiaoyan Hui contributed equally to the writing of this article.

Correspondence to Zhaorong Shi, Jinling Hospital/Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China. Tel: +86 25 80863170; fax: +86 25 86618942; e-mail: [email protected]

Abbreviations: CAD, coronary artery disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FMD, brachial flow-mediated dilatation; HOMA-IR, Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IMT, carotid intima–media thickness; PWV, brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity

Received 2 September, 2014

Revised 4 March, 2015

Accepted 4 March, 2015

Journal of Hypertension 33(8):p 1624-1632, August 2015. | DOI: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000000588

Abstract

Objectives: 

Chemerin is a new adipokine elevated in states of obesity and metabolic syndromes. In this study, we investigated the association of increased chemerin on endothelial function, arterial stiffness and early atherosclerosis in essential hypertensive patients.

Methods: 

Three hundred and sixty-seven newly diagnosed essential hypertensive patients were enrolled. Anthropometric measurements and plasma parameters were examined, including BMI, waist circumference, glucose, serum insulin, lipid profiles, chemerin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-4. Vascular health was assessed with brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT).

Results: 

In hypertensive patients, plasma chemerin levels were higher in women than in men (P < 0.05). In univariate analysis, the plasma chemerin level was positively correlated with baPWV (men: r = 0.58, P < 0.01; women: r = 0.51, P < 0.01) and carotid IMT (men: r = 0.17, P = 0.01; women: r = 0.20, P = 0.01), and inversely correlated with FMD (men: r = −0.54, P < 0.01; women: r = −0.44, P < 0.01). The associations for FMD and baPWV, but not IMT, remained significant in multivariable models adjusted for age, sex, glucose homeostasis, lipid profiles, inflammation markers and adipokines. More importantly, logistic regression analysis revealed that high chemerin level was an independent predictor of impaired endothelial function (FMD odds ratio 1.58, 95% confidence interval 1.28–3.30, P = 0.03) and increased arterial stiffness (baPWV odds ratio 3.75, 95% confidence interval 1.36–5.28, P < 0.01), even after adjustment for metabolic variables, inflammatory markers and adipokines.

Conclusion: 

Chemerin levels were independently associated with the index of arterial function and early atherosclerosis in essential hypertension.

Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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