Background and aims: Mac-2 binding protein (M2BP) plays an important role in cell adhesion. In a recent cross-sectional study we reported that serum M2BP concentrations may reflect silent atherosclerosis. The aim of the present prospective follow-up study was to investigate possible relationships between changes in concentrations of M2BP and other factors over a >3-year period.
Methods and results: The present study enrolled subjects who visited Enshu hospital from 2014 to 2015 for a periodic physical check-up and then attended for another physical check-up after >3 years (n = 174). Factors affecting changes in M2BP concentrations were investigated at both baseline and follow-up. Subjects with liver dysfunction, a history of hepatic disease, malignant neoplasm, or cardiovascular events at baseline were excluded. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that changes in serum M2BP concentrations during the follow-up period were significantly associated with changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride, and oxidative stress marker derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROM) concentrations. Moreover, the increase in LDL-C was significantly greater in subjects in whom M2BP concentrations increased during the follow-up period. Logistic regression analysis with an endpoint of increased M2BP revealed that increased LDL-C was an independent determinant of an increase in M2BP during the follow-up period.
Conclusion: During the observation period of >3 years, serum M2BP concentrations were increased in subjects who also exhibited increases in levels of metabolic parameters, especially LDL-C, and the oxidative stress marker d-ROM. These results support that serum M2BP reflects one of the contributors to the progression of silent atherosclerosis.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular risk factor; Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Mac-2 binding protein; Oxidative stress.
Copyright © 2019 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.