Bozic M, et al. - Researchers evaluated the role of circulating fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) levels in the development of atherosclerosis in patients with CKD. Low FGF-2 levels were found to be independently related to atheromatosis progression in CKD.

Methods

• Researchers used a multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study of 481 patients with CKD.
• Carotid and femoral ultrasounds were used to establish the presence of atheroma plaque in ten arterial territories.
• Progression of atheromatosis was defined as an increase in the number of territories with plaque after 24 months.
• Using multiplex analysis, plasma levels of FGF-2 were measured.
• Whether plasma FGF-2 levels were associated with atheromatosis progression was determined via multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results

• For each CKD stage, the percentage of patients was as follows: 51% in stage 3, 41% in stages 4–5, and 8% in dialysis.
• Plaque at baseline was seen in 335 patients (70%), and in 289 patients (67%), progression of atheromatosis was seen.
• Patients with or without plaque at baseline showed similar FGF-2 levels (79 vs 88 pg/ml), but the levels were lower in patients with atheromatosis progression after 2 years (78 vs 98 pg/ml; P < 0.01).
• Higher plasma FGF-2 was shown to be related to lower risk of atheromatosis progression in adjusted analyses (odds ratio [OR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.76 to 0.96; per 50 pg/ml increment).
• By analysis of FGF-2 in tertiles, atheroma progression was seen for 102 participants in the lowest tertile of FGF-2 (reference group), 86 participants in the middle tertile of FGF-2 (adjusted OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.40 to 1.20), and 74 participants in the lowest tertile of FGF-2 (adjusted OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.82).