Impaired endothelial function irrespective of systemic inflammation or
atherosclerosis in mastoscytosis
Abstract
Background: Knowledge on endothelial dysfunction and its relation to
atherosclerosis in mastocytosis is limited. Aim: To investigate the
endothelial function in mastocytosis by flow mediated dilatation (FMD)
and biomarkers related to vascular endothelia, the presence of
subclinical atherosclerosis by carotid intima media thickness (CIMT).
Method: Forty-nine patients with mastocytosis and 25 healthy controls
(HCs) were included. FMD and CIMT during transthoracic echocardiography,
biomarkers including endocan, endothelin-1 (ET-1), vascular endothelial
growth factor (VEGF) were measured in sera of participants. Tumor
necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukine-6 (IL-6) and high sensitive
c-reactive protein (hsCRP) were determined as inflammatory biomarkers.
Result: The mean FMD% was lower in the patients than HCs (11.26±5.85%
vs 17.84±5.27% p<0.001) and was the lowest in the advSM and
SSM group among the patients (p=0.03). The median value of VEGF was
significantly higher in patients than HCs. [73.30 pg/mL; min-max
(32.46-295.29) pg/mL vs (46.64 pg/mL; min-max 11.09-99.86 pg/mL;
p:0.001] and it was the highest in the advSM and SSM group (p:0.01).
FMD was inversely correlated with endocan (r:-.390, p:0.006), ET-1
(r:-.363, p:0.01) and VEGF (r:-.402, p:0.004) but there were no
correlations between FMD and TNF-α, IL-6, and hsCRP. No differences in
CIMT values between patients and HCs and no correlation between CIMT and
the biomarkers were observed. Conclusion: Endothelial dysfunction in
mastocytosis becomes evident with decreased FMD and elevated serum VEGF,
in the absence of atherosclerosis or systemic inflammation and is
related to disease severity. Keywords: CIMT, Endocan, Endothelial
function, Endothelin-1, FMD, VEGF