Osteocalcin, osteopontin and RUNX2 expression in patients with arteriosclerosis

Abstract

Knowledge of the role of the skeleton as an endocrine organ has increase over the past years. The role of calcification in arteriosclerotic disease has also been a matter of investigation. Since there is a clear association between the levels of osteocalcin (OC), osteopontin (OPN) and Runt‑related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and the development of arteriosclerotic vascular disease, the present study examined the expression of OC, OPN and RUNX2 in vascular tissue and their possible employment as diagnostic markers for cardiovascular disease. For this purpose, 13 vessel tissues, including tissues from six patients without arteriosclerotic disease (PAD‑) and 7 patients with arteriosclerotic disease (PAD+) were obtained by surgical resection. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR) analysis were performed. The results revealed that tissues representing PAD+ exhibited a noticeably stronger protein expression of OC, OPN and RUNX2 as compared with the corresponding PAD‑ tissues. The transcript levels of OPN and RUNX2 were associated with protein expression and were significantly elevated in PAD+ (OPN, P<0.05; RUNX2, P<0.01). The expression of OC in PAD+ was noticeably increased as compared with PAD‑ (P=0.067). On the whole, the present study demonstrates that the expression of OC, OPN and RUNX2 in arterial tissue is strongly associated with symptomatic arteriosclerotic disease. Further investigations are required however, to prove the tge clinical significance of OC, OPN and RUNX2 as potential biomarkers for atherosclerotic disease.