MO745: Serum Endocan as a Risk Factor for Aortic Stiffness in Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIMS Endocan is secreted by the activated endothelium and plays a central role in inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, angiogenesis and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, it is associated with cardiovascular disease. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the relationship between serum endocan levels and carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). METHOD Blood samples and baseline characteristics were collected from 122 HD patients. Serum endocan concentrations were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Aortic stiffness was defined as a cfPWV of more than 10 m/s. RESULTS Of the 122 HD patients, aortic stiffness was diagnosed in 53 (43.4%), and higher percentages of diabetes (P < 0.001) and hypertension (P = 0.030) were of older age (P = 0.007) and had higher systolic blood pressure (P = 0.011) and endocan levels (P < 0.001) in those with aortic stiffness than those without. After adjusting for factors significantly associated with aortic stiffness by multivariate logistic regression analysis, serum endocan [odds ratio (OR) 1.566, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.224–2.002; P < 0.001], age (OR 1.040, 95% CI 1.001–1.080; P = 0.045), and diabetes (OR 4.067, 95% CI 1.532–10.798; P = 0.005) were independently associated with aortic stiffness in patients with chronic HD. Multivariable forward stepwise linear regression analysis also confirmed that the logarithmically transformed endocan level (β =0.405, adjusted R2 change = 0.152; P < 0.001) was an independent predictor of cfPWV values. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve predicting aortic stiffness by serum endocan level was 0.713 (95% CI 0.620–0.806; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Serum endocan level positively correlates with cfPWV and is also an independent predictor of aortic stiffness in maintenance HD patients.