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Are elevated circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 levels more strongly predictive of diabetes than vascular

N Sattar1, H M Murray, P Welsh

  • 1Faculty of Medicine, BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK. nsattar@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Diabetologia
|November 26, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Elevated intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) levels are linked to increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in older adults. However, ICAM-1 was not associated with a higher risk of vascular events like heart disease or stroke.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical research
  • Cardiovascular and metabolic disease research

Background:

  • Circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is a marker of endothelial activation.
  • Understanding the association of ICAM-1 with vascular events and incident diabetes is crucial for risk prediction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether ICAM-1 is more strongly associated with vascular event risk or incident diabetes risk.
  • To assess ICAM-1 as a potential surrogate marker for endothelial activation in relation to these outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study analyzing baseline ICAM-1 levels in elderly participants.
  • Related ICAM-1 levels to incident cardiovascular events (CHD, stroke) and new-onset diabetes over 3.2 years.
  • Statistical analysis adjusted for classical risk factors and C-reactive protein.

Main Results:

  • ICAM-1 levels correlated with lipid profiles (triacylglycerol, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol).
  • Higher ICAM-1 levels were significantly associated with incident diabetes (HR 1.84).
  • No significant association was found between ICAM-1 levels and incident vascular events (HR 0.98).

Conclusions:

  • Elevated ICAM-1 levels are independently associated with an increased risk of incident diabetes in the elderly.
  • ICAM-1 levels do not appear to be associated with the risk of incident cardiovascular disease.
  • Circulating ICAM-1 perturbations may be more indicative of diabetes risk than cardiovascular risk.
Abstract

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