Abstract
YKL-40 has been suggested to be a potential biomarker of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. The present study aimed to investigate the possible association between serum YKL-40 levels and some risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in essential hypertensive patients in a sample of Saudi essential hypertensive patients, compared to controls. Serum YKL-40 levels were quantified in 100 hypertensive patients and 100 age and sex-matched healthy volunteers by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), lipid profile, and homeostasis model assessment index for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were also assessed. Serum YKL-40 levels were significantly higher in patients compared to controls [median (quartiles) [1575 (1354-1814) and 740 (97.2-1022)] pg/mL, respectively] (P < 0.001). When the ROC curve was applied, the AUC was 0.894 +/- 0.023 (95% CI of 0.85-0.93) with 85% sensitivity and 82% specificity at a cutoff value of 1145.1 pg/mL. According to univariate analysis, YKL-40 was related to systolic and diastolic blood pressures, hs-CRP, body mass index, fasting blood sugar, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.400, 0.159, 0.406, 0.224, 0.237, 0.211, respectively). According to multivariate analysis, the ordination plot showed an obvious demarcation between study groups caused by high levels of serum YKL-40. Collectively, YKL-40 was associated with some CVD modifiable risk factors in hypertensive patients. Further follow-up studies are recommended to test its applicability in clinic.