Association of Osteopontin With Aortic Arterial Stiffness in Kidney Transplantation Patients.

Abstract

Objective: Increased arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of mortality among kidney transplantation (KT) patients. Osteopontin (OPN) is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and is abundant at sites of calcification in human atherosclerotic plaques. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between fasting serum OPN levels and aortic pulse wave velocity among KT patients. Patients and Methods: Fasting blood samples were obtained from 57 KT patients and 60 control subjects. Aortic pulse wave velocity(carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity) was performed by SphygmoCor system. Serum OPN levels were measured using a commerciallyavailableenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Aortic pulse wave velocity values of ≥ 12 m/s were used to define the high-risk aortic arterial stiffness group. Results: KT patients had lower hemoglobin (p < 0.001), and higher white blood count(p = 0.016), total cholesterol(p = 0.006),fasting glucose (p = 0.002), blood urea nitrogen(p < 0.001), creatinine (p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (p = 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.001), intact parathyroid hormone levels (p < 0.001), and OPN (p = 0.003) than controls.There is no difference of aortic pulse wave velocitylevels between KT patients and control (p = 0.437). Sixteen patients (28.1%) were defined in high-risk aortic arterial stiffness group at KT patients.Body weight (p = 0.004), waist circumference (p = 0.009), body mass index (p = 0.011), creatinine (p = 0.012), and serum OPN level (p = 0.002) were higher in high-risk aortic arterial stiffness group compared with low-risk aortic arterial stiffness group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that OPN (Odds ratio: 10.793, 95% confidence interval: 1.268 to 91.393, p=0.029) was still the independent predictors of aortic arterial stiffness among the KT patients. Conclusion:These preliminary results suggest that OPN level was significantly correlated with aortic arterial stiffness among the KT patients.