Soluble CXCL16 and risk of myocardial infarction: The HUNT study in Norway.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

CXCL16 is an interferon-γ-regulated chemokine and scavenger receptor for oxidized low-density lipoprotein that is expressed in atherosclerotic lesions. High soluble CXCL16 levels during acute cardiovascular events may indicate impaired long-term prognosis, but it is not known if CXCL16 is associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in healthy individuals. We aimed to assess whether soluble CXCL16 is associated with risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in a nested case-control study within a large population-based cohort.

METHODS

We conducted a case-control study nested within the population-based HUNT2 cohort in Norway. A total of 58,761 men and women free of known cardiovascular disease were followed for a first myocardial infarction (MI), and during 11.3 years of follow-up, 1587 incident MIs were registered. These cases were compared to 3959 age- and sex-matched controls.

RESULTS

Among MI cases, the median CXCL16 concentration was 9.9 ng/ml (interquartile range 7.2-12.6) compared to 9.6 ng/ml (interquartile range 6.9-12.3) among controls (p < 0.001). Although the difference in median value between cases and controls was small, MI risk was twice as high (OR, 2.08; 95% CI: 1.74-2.50) among participants in the highest quartile compared to participants in the lowest quartile of CXCL16 after adjustment for age and sex. Additional adjustment for serum lipids, body mass index, smoking habits, diabetes mellitus, serum creatinine, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein attenuated the excess risk by about half, yielding an odds ratio of 1.46 (95% CI: 1.19-1.79).

CONCLUSION

Soluble CXCL16 may provide novel information in clinical cardiovascular risk assessment, but its importance needs to be verified in other prospective population studies.