Soluble Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 Correlates With Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Early Atherosclerotic Manifestations

Objective-Vascular adhesion protein-1 is an endothelial enzyme that regulates leukocyte traffic and contributes to vascular damage in animal models. The relations of soluble vascular adhesion protein-1 (sVAP-1) with cardiovascular risk factors and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis at a population level have not been studied. Methods and Results-We developed a new high-throughput method and measured sVAP-1 activities in serum of 2183 persons (The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study). In women, sVAP-1 activity correlated indirectly with body mass index (r = -0.15, P < 0.0001), triglycerides (r = -0.13, P < 0.0001), C-reactive protein (r = -0.23; P < 0.0001), and brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation (r = -0.076, P < 0.0089) and directly with carotid plaques (r = 0.066, P = 0.023). None of these correlations was significant in men. In women, all these univariate correlations remained significant after adjustment for body mass index, and direct correlations with LDL-cholesterol (r = 0.094, P = 0.0014) and carotid intima-media thickness (r = 0.075, P = 0.010) became evident. In men, sVAP-1 activity associated directly with glucose (r = 0.074, P = 0.020), intima-media thickness (r = 0.072, P = 0.025), metabolic syndrome (P = 0.016), and type 1 (P = 0.0002) and type 2 (P = 0.0001) diabetes. In multivariable analyses, sVAP-1 activity was an independent determinant of carotid intima-media thickness (P = 0.0072) and plaques [odds ratio 1.71 (95% confidence interval 1.07-2.72, P = 0.025] in women, but not in men. Conclusion-sVAP-1 activity correlates directly with intima-media thickness and carotid plaques in general population and may play a role in the pathophysiology of preclinical atherosclerosis. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012; 32: 523-532.)