Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2011) 26 P580

ECE2011 Poster Presentations Cardiovascular endocrinology and lipid metabolism (34 abstracts)

Relationship between plasma aldosterone concentration and soluble cellular adhesion molecules in patients referred to coronary angiography

A Tomaschitz 1 , S Pilz 1, , E Ritz 3 , T Grammer 4 , K Amrein 1 , B O Boehm 5 & W März 4,


1Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; 2Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 3Department of Nephrology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; 4Synlab Centre of Laboratory Diagnostics, Heidelberg, Germany; 5Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Graduate School of Molecular Diabetology and Endocrinology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany; 6Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Ruperto Carola University Heidelberg, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.


Introduction: An increasing notion suggests that aldosterone contributes to the development and progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Experimental studies documented an upregulation of cellular adhesion molecules, which are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, after administration of aldosterone. However, evidence for an association between circulating aldosterone levels and soluble cellular adhesion molecules in humans is sparse.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC; median: 82.0 (51.0–129.0) pg/ml) and soluble cellular adhesion molecules in a large cohort of patients referred to coronary angiography. After exclusion of patients with ongoing oral contraceptive or hormone replacement therapy 1752 patients (mean age: 62.5±10.8 years; 26.4% women) remained eligible for analyses.

Results: Age and gender adjusted partial correlation analyses revealed a positive association between PAC and soluble (s) selectin levels but not with sICAM1 and sVCAM1 respectively. In multivariate adjusted analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) sE- (P=0.003), sL- (P=0.027) and sP-selectin (P<0.001) levels increased steadily from the first (reference) to the third gender-specific tertile of PAC. No significant variation across PAC tertiles was found for sICAM1 and sVCAM1 levels respectively. Finally, multivariate regression analyses revealed circulating aldosterone as an important predictor for soluble selectin levels.

Conclusion: Our findings in a large cohort of patients indicate that the upregulation of selectins might represent a novel mechanism of aldosterone mediated development and progression of atherosclerosis. Our findings warrants further interventional studies which should evaluate anti-atherosclerotic effects of aldosterone blocking treatment strategies in humans.

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