Plaque characteristics and biomarkers predicting regression and progression of carotid atherosclerosis.

Khan F, Gonçalves I, Shore AC, Natali A, Palombo C, Colhoun HM, Östling G, Casanova F, Kennbäck C, Aizawa K, Persson M, Gooding KM, Strain D, Looker H, Dove F, Belch J, Pinnola S, Venturi E, Kozakova M, Nilsson J

Cell Reports Medicine 3 (7) 100676 [2022-07-19; online 2022-07-21]

The factors that influence the atherosclerotic disease process in high-risk individuals remain poorly understood. Here, we used a combination of vascular imaging, risk factor assessment, and biomarkers to identify factors associated with 3-year change in carotid disease severity in a cohort of high-risk subjects treated with preventive therapy (n = 865). The results show that changes in intima-media thickness (IMT) are most pronounced in the carotid bulb. Progression of bulb IMT demonstrates independent associations with baseline bulb IMT, the plaque gray scale median (GSM), and the plasma level of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) (standardized β-coefficients and 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.14 [-0.06 to -0.02] p = 0.001, 0.15 [0.02-0.07] p = 0.001, and 0.20 [0.03-0.07] p < 0.001, respectively). Plasma PDGF correlates with the plaque GSM (0.23 [0.15-0.29] p < 0.001). These observations provide insight into the atherosclerotic process in high-risk subjects by showing that progression primarily occurs in fibrotic plaques and is associated with increased levels of PDGF.

Affinity Proteomics Uppsala [Service]

PubMed 35858591

DOI 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100676

Crossref 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100676

pmc: PMC9381367
pii: S2666-3791(22)00212-9