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Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation inside the vessel wall has a prominent role in atherosclerosis. In carotid atherosclerosis in particular, vulnerable plaque characteristics are strongly linked to an increased stroke risk. An association between leukocytes and plaque charact...

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Autores principales: van Velzen, Twan Jowan, Stolp, Jeffrey, van Dam-Nolen, Dianne, Kassem, Mohamed, Hendrikse, Jeroen, Kooi, Marianne Eline, Bos, Daniel, Nederkoorn, Paul J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9961713/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36835906
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12041370
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author van Velzen, Twan Jowan
Stolp, Jeffrey
van Dam-Nolen, Dianne
Kassem, Mohamed
Hendrikse, Jeroen
Kooi, Marianne Eline
Bos, Daniel
Nederkoorn, Paul J.
author_facet van Velzen, Twan Jowan
Stolp, Jeffrey
van Dam-Nolen, Dianne
Kassem, Mohamed
Hendrikse, Jeroen
Kooi, Marianne Eline
Bos, Daniel
Nederkoorn, Paul J.
author_sort van Velzen, Twan Jowan
collection PubMed
description Background: Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation inside the vessel wall has a prominent role in atherosclerosis. In carotid atherosclerosis in particular, vulnerable plaque characteristics are strongly linked to an increased stroke risk. An association between leukocytes and plaque characteristics has not been investigated before and could help with gaining knowledge on the role of inflammation in plaque vulnerability, which could contribute to a new target for intervention. In this study, we investigated the association of the leukocyte count with carotid vulnerable plaque characteristics. Methods: All patients from the Plaque At RISK (PARISK) study whom had complete data on their leukocyte count and CTA- and MRI-based plaque characteristics were included. Univariable logistic regression was used to detect associations of the leukocyte count with the separate plaque characteristics (intra-plaque haemorrhage (IPH), lipid-rich-necrotic core (LRNC), thin or ruptured fibrous cap (TRFC), plaque ulceration and plaque calcifications). Subsequently, other known risk factors for stroke were included as covariates in a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: 161 patients were eligible for inclusion in this study. Forty-six (28.6%) of these patients were female with a mean age of 70 [IQR 64–74]. An association was found between a higher leukocyte count and lower prevalence of LRNC (OR 0.818 (95% CI 0.687–0.975)) while adjusting for covariates. No associations were found between the leucocyte count and the presence of IPH, TRFC, plaque ulceration or calcifications. Conclusions: The leukocyte count is inversely associated with the presence of LRNC in the atherosclerotic carotid plaque in patients with a recently symptomatic carotid stenosis. The exact role of leukocytes and inflammation in plaque vulnerability deserves further attention.
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spelling pubmed-99617132023-02-26 Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study van Velzen, Twan Jowan Stolp, Jeffrey van Dam-Nolen, Dianne Kassem, Mohamed Hendrikse, Jeroen Kooi, Marianne Eline Bos, Daniel Nederkoorn, Paul J. J Clin Med Article Background: Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation inside the vessel wall has a prominent role in atherosclerosis. In carotid atherosclerosis in particular, vulnerable plaque characteristics are strongly linked to an increased stroke risk. An association between leukocytes and plaque characteristics has not been investigated before and could help with gaining knowledge on the role of inflammation in plaque vulnerability, which could contribute to a new target for intervention. In this study, we investigated the association of the leukocyte count with carotid vulnerable plaque characteristics. Methods: All patients from the Plaque At RISK (PARISK) study whom had complete data on their leukocyte count and CTA- and MRI-based plaque characteristics were included. Univariable logistic regression was used to detect associations of the leukocyte count with the separate plaque characteristics (intra-plaque haemorrhage (IPH), lipid-rich-necrotic core (LRNC), thin or ruptured fibrous cap (TRFC), plaque ulceration and plaque calcifications). Subsequently, other known risk factors for stroke were included as covariates in a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: 161 patients were eligible for inclusion in this study. Forty-six (28.6%) of these patients were female with a mean age of 70 [IQR 64–74]. An association was found between a higher leukocyte count and lower prevalence of LRNC (OR 0.818 (95% CI 0.687–0.975)) while adjusting for covariates. No associations were found between the leucocyte count and the presence of IPH, TRFC, plaque ulceration or calcifications. Conclusions: The leukocyte count is inversely associated with the presence of LRNC in the atherosclerotic carotid plaque in patients with a recently symptomatic carotid stenosis. The exact role of leukocytes and inflammation in plaque vulnerability deserves further attention. MDPI 2023-02-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9961713/ /pubmed/36835906 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12041370 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
van Velzen, Twan Jowan
Stolp, Jeffrey
van Dam-Nolen, Dianne
Kassem, Mohamed
Hendrikse, Jeroen
Kooi, Marianne Eline
Bos, Daniel
Nederkoorn, Paul J.
Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study
title Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study
title_full Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study
title_fullStr Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study
title_full_unstemmed Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study
title_short Higher Leukocyte Count Is Associated with Lower Presence of Carotid Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core: A Sub-Study in the Plaque at RISK (PARISK) Study
title_sort higher leukocyte count is associated with lower presence of carotid lipid-rich necrotic core: a sub-study in the plaque at risk (parisk) study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9961713/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36835906
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12041370
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