BACKGROUND: Fibrinogen is a key factor in the coagulation cascade, it exhibits proinflammatory properties, and it is suggested to play a pivotal role in atherogenesis. We investigated whether fibrinogen predicts future progression of carotid atherosclerosis, analyzing whether fibrinogen levels add to the prognostic information of other inflammatory parameters. METHODS: We prospectively studied 1268 consecutive patients without recent (12 months) symptoms from cerebrovascular disease. Patients underwent serial ultrasound investigations in 6- to 9-month intervals, categorizing carotid arteries as 0% to 29%, 30% to 49%, 50% to 69%, 70% to 89%, or 90% to 99% stenosed, or occluded. Fibrinogen levels were determined at baseline and follow-up. The risk for progressive carotid atherosclerosis according to fibrinogen levels was calculated, adjusting for traditional risk factors and other inflammatory parameters (C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A). RESULTS: Progression of carotid atherosclerosis was found in 117 of 1268 patients (9.2%) after a median of 8 months (range 6 to 18). Adjusted hazard ratios for atherosclerosis progression with increasing quartiles of baseline fibrinogen were 1.83 (P=0.037), 2.09 (P=0.008), and 2.45 (P=0.002), respectively, compared with the lowest quartile. Fibrinogen at follow-up also was associated with progressive disease (P=0.004). However, additionally adjusting for other inflammatory parameters diminished these associations to a nonsignificant level. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated fibrinogen, reflecting the level of inflammatory activity, is associated with progression of carotid atherosclerosis, as it was demonstrated previously for other inflammatory parameters. However, this association seems to be nonspecifically related to the extent of the inflammatory process in atherosclerotic disease rather than to specific properties of fibrinogen.
BACKGROUND:Fibrinogen is a key factor in the coagulation cascade, it exhibits proinflammatory properties, and it is suggested to play a pivotal role in atherogenesis. We investigated whether fibrinogen predicts future progression of carotid atherosclerosis, analyzing whether fibrinogen levels add to the prognostic information of other inflammatory parameters. METHODS: We prospectively studied 1268 consecutive patients without recent (12 months) symptoms from cerebrovascular disease. Patients underwent serial ultrasound investigations in 6- to 9-month intervals, categorizing carotid arteries as 0% to 29%, 30% to 49%, 50% to 69%, 70% to 89%, or 90% to 99% stenosed, or occluded. Fibrinogen levels were determined at baseline and follow-up. The risk for progressive carotid atherosclerosis according to fibrinogen levels was calculated, adjusting for traditional risk factors and other inflammatory parameters (C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A). RESULTS: Progression of carotid atherosclerosis was found in 117 of 1268 patients (9.2%) after a median of 8 months (range 6 to 18). Adjusted hazard ratios for atherosclerosis progression with increasing quartiles of baseline fibrinogen were 1.83 (P=0.037), 2.09 (P=0.008), and 2.45 (P=0.002), respectively, compared with the lowest quartile. Fibrinogen at follow-up also was associated with progressive disease (P=0.004). However, additionally adjusting for other inflammatory parameters diminished these associations to a nonsignificant level. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated fibrinogen, reflecting the level of inflammatory activity, is associated with progression of carotid atherosclerosis, as it was demonstrated previously for other inflammatory parameters. However, this association seems to be nonspecifically related to the extent of the inflammatory process in atherosclerotic disease rather than to specific properties of fibrinogen.
Authors: Christopher S Carlson; Patrick J Heagerty; Alex S Nord; David K Pritchard; Jane Ranchalis; Joshua M Boguch; Hangjun Duan; Thomas S Hatsukami; Stephen M Schwartz; Mark J Rieder; Deborah A Nickerson; Gail P Jarvik Journal: Hum Genet Date: 2006-11-18 Impact factor: 4.132
Authors: Susan J Duthie; John H Beattie; Margaret-J Gordon; Lynn P Pirie; Fergus Nicol; Martin D Reid; Gary J Duncan; Louise Cantlay; Graham Horgan; Christopher J McNeil Journal: Genes Nutr Date: 2014-12-02 Impact factor: 5.523
Authors: Ronnie Ramadan; Saurabh S Dhawan; José Nilo G Binongo; Ayman Alkhoder; Dean P Jones; John N Oshinski; Arshed A Quyyumi Journal: Am Heart J Date: 2016-01-18 Impact factor: 4.749
Authors: Georgiana-Aura Giurgea; Ilda Lilaj; Michael E Gschwandtner; Christian Margeta; Sonja Zehetmayer; Christoph Domenig; Oliver Schlager; Michael Schwameis; Renate Koppensteiner; Andrea Willfort-Ehringer Journal: Wien Klin Wochenschr Date: 2012-11 Impact factor: 1.704
Authors: Peter Willeit; Simon G Thompson; Stefan Agewall; Göran Bergström; Horst Bickel; Alberico L Catapano; Kuo-Liong Chien; Eric de Groot; Jean-Philippe Empana; Thorleif Etgen; Oscar H Franco; Bernhard Iglseder; Stein H Johnsen; Maryam Kavousi; Lars Lind; Jing Liu; Ellisiv B Mathiesen; Giuseppe D Norata; Michael H Olsen; Aikaterini Papagianni; Holger Poppert; Jackie F Price; Ralph L Sacco; David N Yanez; Dong Zhao; Ulf Schminke; Alpaslan Bülbül; Joseph F Polak; Matthias Sitzer; Albert Hofman; Liliana Grigore; Marcus Dörr; Ta-Chen Su; Pierre Ducimetière; Wuxiang Xie; Kimmo Ronkainen; Stefan Kiechl; Tatjana Rundek; Christine Robertson; Björn Fagerberg; Lena Bokemark; Helmuth Steinmetz; M Arfan Ikram; Henry Völzke; Hung-Ju Lin; Matthieu Plichart; Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen; Moise Desvarieux; Stela McLachlan; Caroline Schmidt; Jussi Kauhanen; Johann Willeit; Matthias W Lorenz; Dirk Sander Journal: Eur J Prev Cardiol Date: 2014-11-21 Impact factor: 7.804