Association of Serum Resistin with Peripheral Arterial Disease

INTRODUCTION Resistin is an inflammatory mediator and a potential biomarker in cardiovascular diseases. We sought to examine its association with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).PATIENTS AND METHODS We recruited 200 patients with PAD and 100 healthy controls. Patients were divided into 4 subgroups according to the Fontaine classification for PAD, that is, from Stage I to Stage IV. Serum resistin levels were compared between the PAD group and the control group and among 4 PAD subgroups adjusted for selected factors.RESULTS Serum resistin (Ln-resistin - log scale) levels and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels in patients with PAD were higher than in healthy controls (P <0.05). Moreover, among the 4 PAD subgroups, the value of Ln-resistin in Stage I subgroup was the lowest, and Stage II subgroup had lower Ln-resistin than Stage III subgroup or Stage IV subgroup (P < 0.05). There was also a significant difference in hsCRP levels among those 4 subgroups (P < 0.05). In PAD patients, Ln-resistin levels correlated inversely with the ankle-brachial pressure index (r = -0.301, P < 0.05), and positively with total cholesterol levels (r = 0.228, P < 0.01). Moreover, a multivariate analysis showed Ln-resistin levels to be an independent risk factor for PAD (odds ratio, 1.237; 95% confidence interval, 1.086-1.396; P < 0.01).CONCLUSIONS Ln-resistin levels and hsCRP are elevated in PAD patients, and they rise as the severity of PAD increases. A multivariate analysis suggests that Ln-resistin could be a prognostic biomarker for the presence of PAD.