Published Online
on January 27, 2005

A more recent version of this article appeared on March 1, 2005

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Submitted on September 20, 2004
Revised on October 29, 2004
Accepted on November 16, 2004

Soluble CD40L and Cardiovascular Risk in Asymptomatic Low-Grade Carotid Stenosis

Salvatore Novo MD; Stefania Basili MD; Rosalba Tantillo MD; Angela Falco MD; Valentina Davì MD; Giuseppina Novo MD; Corrado Egle MD; and Giovanni Davì MD^*

From the Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Pathologies (S.N., R.T., V.D., G.N., C.E.), University of Palermo, Italy; the Department of Medical Therapy (S.B.), University of Rome "La Sapienza," Italy; and the Center of Excellence on Aging (A.F., G.D.), "G. d’Annunzio" University Foundation, University of Chieti, Italy.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gdavi{at}unich.it.

Background and Purpose--We investigated whether soluble CD40L (sCD40L) may predict the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with asymptomatic carotid plaques.

Methods--Forty-two patients with asymptomatic low-grade carotid stenosis (ALCS) and 21 controls without any carotid stenosis were enrolled. All subjects had at least a major cardiovascular risk factor (CRF). Plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, and sCD40L were measured. Subjects were reviewed every 12 months (median follow-up, 8 years).

Results--ALCS patients had higher (P<0.0001) CRP, IL-6, and sCD40L than controls. Fourteen patients experienced a CV event. Cox regression analysis showed that only high sCD40L levels (P=0.003) independently predicted cardiovascular risk.

Conclusions--High levels of sCD40L may predict the risk of CV events in ALCS.

Key words: atherosclerosis • carotid stenosis • inflammation • risk factors

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