Association of Selenoprotein S Expression and its Variants with Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects with Cardiovascular Disease

Background. Selenoproteins S (SELS or VIMP) may regulate cytokine production, and thus play a key role in the control of the inflammatory response. Methods. This study consisted of 136 Iranian patients with cardiovascular disease (65 MetS-affected and 71 MetS un-affected individuals) in the selengene study. Expression of two variants of VIMP including VIMP I and II were analyzed in all subjects using Real-Time PCR and ELISA. Results. The level of VIMP was lower in MetS(+) compared to the MetS(-) subjects (p < 0.05). We found no significant differences in quantitative expression of VIMP I and VIMP II in both groups. VIMP I reveal a reverse correlation with fasting blood sugar (FBS) (r = -0.45, p = 0.009). Moreover, SELS in protein level has negative correlation with WC (r = -0.171, p = 0.049) and positive correlation with HDL (r = -0.176, p = 0.046). Conclusions. Our study suggests that VIMP in protein level is significantly lower in MetS and shows a reverse correlation with WC and positive correlation with HDL. Therefore, with regard to the functional role of this protein, it is possible to deduce that its lower expression leads to the higher secretion of unfolded proteins into the cytosol and outside the cell, where they cannot play their exact roles in the different pathways. Moreover, the reverse correlation of VIMP I with FBS suggests further consideration of VIMP and its variant VIMP I expression in regards to potential development of major CVD risk factors. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of IMSS.