Genetic variance and plasma concentration of CD93 is associated with cardiovascular mortality: Results from a 6.7-year follow-up of a healthy community-living elderly population

Inflammation is one of the fundamental processes in numerous diseases. Cluster of differentiation (CD) 93, a glycoprotein, has been reported to be associated with a number of these diseases. There are reports indicating that a high plasma level of CD93 is associated with adverse events in ischaemic heart disease. Additionally, there are reports indicating different cardiovascular risks between different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CD93. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine whether the plasma concentration of CD93 and polymorphism of rs2749812 in CD93 were associated with clinical conditions and mortality in an elderly population. In 470 healthy elderly community-living individuals a novel clinical examination involving echocardiography and blood sampling was performed. The population was followed for 6.7 years. Plasma levels of CD93 and SNP analyses of rs2749812 of CD93 using PCR methodology were used. During the follow-up period, 106 (22.6%) all-cause and 61 (13.0%) cardiovascular deaths were registered. Those with the highest plasma concentration had markedly higher all-cause mortality. Evaluating the A/A, A/G and G/G genotypes, the G/G group exhibited significantly higher cardiovascular mortality (P=0.026), and an almost two-fold increased risk in a multivariate Cox regression model compared with the A/G genotype. Evaluation of subgroups with respect to sex, diabetes and hypertension revealed markedly increased cardiovascular risk in the G/G genotype in all subgroups. All results persisted in the multiple models used. In the present study, the glycoprotein CD93 was demonstrated to have prognostic cardiovascular information, with increased risk for those with a high plasma concentration. Furthermore, the G/G genotype of rs2749812 of CD93 has a significantly higher cardiovascular risk, as demonstrated here, and could therefore be regarded as a possible cardiovascular risk biomarker that might in the future be used to offer optimised cardiovascular patient handling. However, this was a small study, and more research is required.