Higher circulating Sortilin levels linked to coronary artery disease, reveals study
Genome-wide association studies showed SORT1 expression to affect lipid metabolism and thus identifies it as a risk gene for coronary artery disease (CAD). In a recent study, researchers have found a positive association of the SORT1 gene with Coronary artery disease (CAD). The study findings were presented at The Metabolic Institute of America (TMIOA) 2021 World Congress Insulin Resistance Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC) Meeting.
Previous studies have shown higher circulating levels of Sortilin in patients with atherosclerosis. However, very little is known about its expression in patients with CAD. Therefore, Dr Rajiv Narang and his team conducted a study to analyze the expression of the SORT1 gene at mRNA and protein level in patients with CAD, observing the differential expression of sortilin throughout different stages of CAD could be a useful biomarker for the disease.
In this study, the researchers included 150 patients with various clinical and subclinical stages of CAD and 150 healthy control patients. They used Quantitative Real-Time PCR and western blotting to determine the expression of SORT1 at mRNA and protein levels. They drew the peripheral venous blood from the study subjects. Additionally, extracted RNA was used for the cDNA synthesis and Real-time quantitative PCR analysis for the SORT1 gene. They further extracted the total protein from the plasma samples and SDS PAGE and measured the expression for Sortilin protein using western blotting experiments. They determined the plasma levels of Sortilin using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Key findings of the study:
- Upon analysis, the researchers found that relative expression of the SORT1 gene was upregulated by 4.438 fold in patients with CAD as compared to those of the control samples.
- They also found a significant upregulation of SORT1 gene expression level by 3.4 fold in single-vessel disease patients, 4.7 fold in double vessel disease patients and 6.09 fold in triple vessel disease patients, as compared to healthy control.
- They noted that the expression level of the SORT1 gene was significantly higher in patients with STEMI as compared to NSTEMI and patients with stable angina.
- They observed a positive association of the expression level of the SORT1 gene with percentage stenosis in patients with CAD.
The authors concluded, "The circulating Sortilin levels in patients with coronary artery disease is higher as compared to healthy individuals. Therefore, there is a positive association of SORT1 gene with Coronary artery disease".
They further added, "Differential expression of Sortilin in different stages of CAD could be a useful biomarker for the disease. There is no such study available to the best of our knowledge globally."
For further information:
Rajiv Narang et al. "Role of SORT1 gene in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease". Abstract #0043.
