Osteopontin May Be Heart Risk Factor in Psoriasis Patients

Osteopontin levels -- linked to inflammation -- associated with psoriasis, diabetes and hypertension

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Circulating osteopontin -- a glycophosphoprotein secreted by epithelial and many other cell types -- may be a cardiovascular risk factor in individuals with psoriasis, according to research published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Yi-Ju Chen, M.D., of the Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues analyzed data from 40 patients with psoriasis and 37 age- and sex-matched controls without the disease.

Patients with psoriasis were significantly more likely to have hypertension and higher body mass index values, the researchers report. Median plasma osteopontin was significantly higher in the psoriasis group than in controls (64.35 versus 50.59 ng/mL). Having osteopontin levels of at least 62.95 ng/mL was associated with a higher risk of psoriasis (odds ratio, 6.24), hypertension (OR, 3.05) and diabetes (OR, 3.13), the investigators found. In multivariate logistic regression, psoriasis seemed to be the only independent risk factor for high osteopontin values, the report indicates.

"We propose that osteopontin can be another target for the prevention of adverse cardiovascular events in psoriasis. Several candidate treatments to suppress osteopontin expression have been investigated in cancer studies, including selenium compounds, agelastatin A, and antisense osteopontin mRNA to block osteopontin mRNA translation or anti-osteopontin antibodies. Future studies in patients with psoriasis to assess medications that oppose the effect of osteopontin may be valuable," the authors write.

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