Association between endothelin type A receptor haplotypes and mortality in coronary heart disease

Plasma levels of soluble VEGF receptor isoforms, circulating pterins and VEGF system SNPs as prognostic biomarkers in patients with acute coronary syndromes

Background

Development of collateral circulation in coronary artery disease is cardio-protective. A key process in forming new blood vessels is attraction to occluded arteries of monocytes with their subsequent activation as macrophages. In patients from a prospectively recruited post-acute coronary syndromes cohort we investigated the prognostic performance of three products of activated macrophages, soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors (sFlt-1 and sKDR) and pterins, alongside genetic variants in VEGF receptor genes, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2.

Methods

Baseline levels of sFlt-1 (VEGFR1), sKDR (VEGFR2) and pterins were measured in plasma samples from subgroups (n = 513; 211; 144, respectively) of the Coronary Disease Cohort Study (CDCS, n = 2067). DNA samples from the cohort were genotyped for polymorphisms from the VEGFR-1 gene SNPs (rs748252 n = 2027, rs9513070 n = 2048) and VEGFR-2 gene SNPs (rs2071559 n = 2050, rs2305948 n = 2066, rs1870377 n = 2042).

Results

At baseline, levels of sFlt-1 were significantly correlated with age, alcohol consumption, NTproBNP, BNP and other covariates relevant to cardiovascular pathophysiology. Total neopterin levels were associated with alcohol consumption at baseline. 7,8 dihydroneopterin was associated with BMI. The A allele of VEGFR-2 variant rs1870377 was associated with higher plasma sFlt-1 and lower levels of sKDR at baseline. Baseline plasma sFlt-1 was univariately associated with all cause mortality with (p < 0.001) and in a Cox’s proportional hazards regression model sFlt-1 and pterins were both associated with mortality independent of established predictors (p < 0.027).

Conclusions

sFlt-1 and pterins may have potential as prognostic biomarkers in acute coronary syndromes patients. Genetic markers from VEGF system genes warrant further investigation as markers of levels of VEGF system components in these patients.

Trial registration

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. ACTRN12605000431628. 16 September 2005, Retrospectively registered.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12872-018-0894-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Endothelin Type A Receptor Genotype is a Determinant of Quantitative Traits of Metabolic Syndrome in Asian Hypertensive Families: A SAPPHIRe Study

Co-heritability of hypertension and insulin resistance (IR) within families not only implies genetic susceptibility may be responsible for these complex traits but also suggests a rational that biological candidate genes for hypertension may serve as markers for features of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Thus we determined whether the T323C polymorphism (rs5333) of endothelin type A (ETA) receptor, a predominant receptor evoking potent vasoconstrictive action of endothelin-1, contributes to susceptibility to IR-associated hypertension in 1694 subjects of Chinese and Japanese origins. Blood pressures (BPs) and biochemistries were measured. Fasting insulin level, insulin-resistance homeostasis model assessment (HOMAIR) score, and area under curve of insulin concentration (AUCINS) were selected for assessing insulin sensitivity. Genotypes were obtained by methods of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Foremost findings were that minor allele frequency of the T323C polymorphism was noticeable lower in our overall Asian subjects compared to multi-national population reported in gene database; moreover both the genotypic and allelic frequencies of the polymorphism were significantly different between the two ethnic groups we studied. The genotype distributions at TT/TC/CC were 65, 31, 4% in Chinese and 51, 41, 8% in Japanese, respectively (p < 0.0001). Additionally, carriers of the C homozygote revealed characteristics of IR, namely significantly higher levels of fasting insulin, HOMAIR score, and AUCINS at 29.3, 35.3, and 39.3%, respectively, when compared to their counterparts with TT/TC genotypes in Chinese. Meanwhile, the CC genotype was associated with a higher level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol in Japanese. No association of the polymorphism with BP was observed. This study demonstrated for the first time that T323C polymorphism of ETA receptor gene was associated with an adverse insulin response in Chinese and a favorite atherogenic index in Japanese.