Serum vaspin levels: A possible correlation with digital ulcers in patients with systemic sclerosis

Vaspin is an adipokine implicated in vascular inflammation and remodeling. We herein evaluated the clinical correlation of serum vaspin levels in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Consistent with previous reports, 12% of subjects exhibited serum vaspin levels over 10ng/mL, likely due to genetic effects. Excluding these subjects, despite no difference between SSc and control subjects, serum vaspin levels were significantly decreased in SSc patients with digital ulcers compared with those without, suggesting the potential contribution of vaspin to digital ulcers of this disease.