Association of increased serum branched-chain amino acid level with carotid plaque

Abstract

Objective To investigate the association between serum branched chain amino acid (BCAA) and carotid plaque. Methods The cross-sectional study was undertaken on 472 middle-aged and elderly people [42-97 y, average (70.1±6.6) y, 272 males] selected from the participants for health screen. The medical history of each participant was obtained by questionnaire. The samples of venous blood and the Bilateral B-mode carotid artery images were taken. Serum BCAA levels were determined by Isotope Dilution Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry. The association of BCAA with carotid plaque was analyzed. Results The levels of BCAA showed skewed and leptokurtic distribution. Males [466.5 (423.6-514.7) μmol/L] had significantly higher values of BCAA than females [415.3 (382.5-466.0) μmol/L] (P<0.001). After adjusted for age and gender, serum BCAA was positively correlated with BMI, SBP, DBP, FBG, TG and LDL-C (all P<0.05), and negatively correlated with HDL-C (P<0.001). The levels of BCAA in the carotid plaque group [450.0 (405.9-492.1)] were significantly higher than the control group [430.4 (395.1-495.2)] (P=0.039). The multifactor Logistic regression analysis showed that age, smoke history, SBP and increased level of BCAA were the independent risk factors for carotid plaques. As compared with subjects in the lowest quartile of BCAA levels, the odds ratio for carotid plaque risk in subjects belonging to quartiles 3 was 2.68 (P= 0.002), Ptrend=0.018. Conclusions Serum BCAA is independently correlated with carotid plaque. Key words: Atherosclerosis; Amino acids, branched-chain; Plaque, atherosclerotic; Risk factor