Decreased Levels Of Serum Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 In Chinese Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between serum FGF21 and coronary artery disease (CAD) and to explore the significant role of FGF21 in CAD patients. Methods: A total of 405 Chinese patients were recruited for this study between June 2013 and June 2014, including 252 patients with CAD and 153 patients without CAD. The levels of serum FGF21 was measured by ELISA. The statistically independent risk factors for CAD were identified by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: In the Spearman correlation analysis, serum FGF21 levels correlated negatively with coronary artery disease (r=-0.116, P<0.05). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between CAD and age (P=0.022), sex (P<0.001), smoker (P<0.001), fasting plasma glucose (P=0.001) and HbA1c (P<0.001). Also, as expected, level of FGF 21 appeared to be a negatively correlated with CAD (beta=-0.930; P=0.008). Serum FGF21 levels correlated negatively with the severity of coronary artery stenosis, including the Gensini score (r=-0.076, P<0.05) and the lesion number in the coronary artery (r=-0.110, P<0.05). Conclusion: FGF21 was shown to be one of the independent protective factors for CAD. The level of serum FGF21 correlated negatively with the severity of coronary artery stenosis, including the Gensini score and the lesion number in the coronary artery. FGF21 showed a possible protective effect on patients with coronary heart disease.