Background/aims: Fetuin-A is a negative acute-phase reactant and extraosseous calcification inhibitor. Decreased serum concentration of fetuin-A is independently related to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. Our aim is to investigate the association between the genetic polymorphism of alpha(2)-Heremans-Schmid-glycoprotein (AHSG) encoding fetuin-A and its serum concentration, vascular calcification, and aortic stiffness in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.
Method: A total of six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the AHSG gene were genotyped and evaluated for association with serum fetuin-A level, quantitative measures of vascular calcification and aortic stiffness represented by heart-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (hfPWV).
Results: Five SNPs in the AHSG gene were nominally associated with the serum fetuin-A level in our PD patients. In haplotype analyses, there were haplotypes positively (H1; AGCA, H2; CC) and inversely (H1; TTCG, H2; TT) related with the serum fetuin-A level. The serum fetuin-A level inversely and independently correlated with hfPWV. Moreover, the serum fetuin-A concentration was a determinant for the simple vascular calcification score (SVCS), which subsequently was associated with hfPWV.
Conclusions: Our study showed an association between AHSG polymorphism and its serum concentration, and also revealed an association of the serum fetuin-A level with SVCS and aortic stiffness in PD patients.
2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.