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Association between serum total bilirubin level and leukoaraiosis in Korean adults
Byoung-Jin Park1, Jae-Yong Shim, Hye-Ree Lee
1Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Objectives:
Leukoaraiosis is associated with cerebrovascular microangiopathy. Increasing evidence suggests that bilirubin is a potent cytoprotectant in the development of cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to determine whether total bilirubin is related to leukoaraiosis.
Methods:
We examined the relationship of total bilirubin with leukoaraiosis in 1005 Korean adults. The odds ratios for leukoaraiosis were calculated using multivariate logistic regression across serum total bilirubin tertiles.
Results:
In comparison with the subjects in the reference group (total bilirubin: 15-26 μmol/L), the odds ratio (95% CI) for leukoaraiosis in the 3rd tertile (total bilirubin ≤10 μmol/L) was 5.50 (1.24-24.40) in women after adjusting for confounding variables. However, this inverse association between serum total bilirubin and the prevalence of leukoaraiosis was not found in men after adjusting for the same co-variables.
Conclusion:
Total bilirubin level was inversely associated with leukoaraiosis regardless of classical cardiovascular risk factors in Korean women.
