Association of serum RANTES concentrations with established cardiovascular risk markers in middle-aged subjects

Background: RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cells expressed and secreted) is known to be related to an inflammatory part of the atherosclerotic process. We investigated the association of serum concentrations of RANTES with the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in a case-control study. Methods: One hundred fifty one CAD male patients aged 40 to 65 years and 151 age-matched healthy male controls were included and the main outcome measure was the odds ratio (OR) for CAD associated with increased levels of RANTES. Results: Serum levels of RANTES were higher in CAD patients when compared with controls (47.1 ± 1.57 ng/mL vs 37.3 ± 1.48; P < 0.001). In addition, values in the second and top tertile of RANTES were associated with an increased OR for CAD when compared with values in the bottom tertile; OR for RANTES top tertile was 2.86 (95% CI, 1.53 to 5.34) in the age- and WHR-adjusted model and 3.23 (95% CI, 1.02 to 10.3) after the fully adjustment. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation of serum RANTES with acute phase proteins such as hs-CRP (r = 0.310, P < 0.001) and fibrinogen (r = 0.333, P < 0.001). RANTES concentrations also displayed a moderate correlation of WHR, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, adiponectin, platelet and white blood cell counts. Conclusion: In the present study, RANTES is associated with CAD risk in middle-aged subjects.