Elevated sclerostin levels are associated with cardiovascular mortality
Scientists from the Research group D08 on BONE MINERAL METABOLISM. BIOMARKERS of the ibs.GRANADA, led by Manuel Muñoz Torres, FEA of Endocrinology and Nutrition of the San Cecilio University Hospital of Granada and Associate Professor of the University of Granada, have shown that elevated circulating sclerostin levels are related to cardiovascular mortality in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Specifically, have been evaluated in a study recently published in the journal Plos One the utility of circulating sclerostin, a protein related to bone metabolism, as a marker of the risk of mortality from cardiovascular causes in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus.
According to Beatriz García-Fontana, researcher of the group, "this finding could provide very useful information for predicting the risk of cardiovascular events, as well as related mortality", so the measurement of serum sclerostin levels in clinical practice Clinic could be considered in the near future as a new strategy to establish early clinical interventions in high-risk individuals.
The group led by Professor Muñoz Torres, from the Department of Medicine of the University of Granada, had previously addressed the relationship between elevated levels of serum sclerostin and the presence of atherosclerotic disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, suggesting that this protein could be involved in vascular disease in these patients.
However, according to Dr. García-Fontana and the endocrinologist Novo-Rodríguez, "the usefulness of sclerostin as a serum marker of atherosclerotic risk and vascular lesions in patients with type 2 diabetes remained unknown, so in this work we incorporated data on the incidence of cardiovascular events in individuals after seven years of follow-up, deepening the study of sclerostin as a predictor of mortality”.
31% increase in mortality at high levels
The present study followed up 130 patients in whom sclerostin levels were measured at baseline and the time to death was evaluated for both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular reasons, to establish the relationship between this protein and mortality. The researchers found that the concentrations were significantly higher in patients with prevalent cardiovascular disease and were also associated with death from these complications, increasing the risk of death by 31% at their highest levels.
About the research group.
Group made up of 15 components, 13 of which with assistance activity. It is a multidisciplinary group made up mostly of clinicians from the "Clinical Management Unit for Endocrinology, Nutrition and Metabolism" of the University Hospitals of Granada, professors from the University of Granada in the areas of Medicine and Biochemistry, and researchers with training in Biochemistry and Biology (2). His priority line of research is focused on the study of the molecular bases of metabolic diseases and their connection with other pathologies.
His lines of research are related to the study of the molecular bases of metabolic diseases (type 2 diabetes mellitus, primary hyperparathyroidism metabolic syndrome) and their possible connections with other diseases (cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis).
Bibliographic reference:
Circulating levels of sclerostin are associated with cardiovascular mortality.
Novo-Rodríguez C, García-Fontana B, Luna-Del Castillo JD, Andújar-Vera F, Ávila-Rubio V, García-Fontana C, Morales-Santana S, Rozas-Moreno P, Muñoz-Torres M.
PLoS One. 2018 Jun 21; 13 (6): e0199504. doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0199504. eCollection 2018.