Patients with Earlobe Crease May Associate with Lower Concentration of the Age-Suppressing Hormone Klotho

Jian Wang; Zhan-Fang Zhu; Fu-Qiang Liu; Cun Liu; Ai-Mei Ou-Yang; Wei-Wei Chen; En-Guo Wang; Xi-Ming Wang

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S300309

Patients with Earlobe Crease May Associate with Lower Concentration of the Age-Suppressing Hormone Klotho

Int J Gen Med. 2021 Nov 25:14:8797-8803. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S300309. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jian Wang^#¹, Zhan-Fang Zhu^#², Fu-Qiang Liu³, Cun Liu⁴, Ai-Mei Ou-Yang¹, Wei-Wei Chen¹, En-Guo Wang¹, Xi-Ming Wang^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250013, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Internal Medicine, The Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Cardiovascular, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an, 710068, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Ultrasound, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250013, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People's Republic of China.
⁶ Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: Earlobe crease (ELC) has been considered as a skin sign of atherosclerosis, and its pathophysiological mechanism is still unclear. Our study aims to test the hypothesis that ELC patients with lower serum levels of the age-suppressing hormone Klotho, which is not only associated with premature aging but also with endothelial dysfunction, may be associated with atherosclerosis.

Methods: A total of 135 patients aged 40-68 years underwent coronary angiography. According to the presence or absence of coronary heart disease (CAD) and ELC, they were divided into three groups: CAD group and ELC group (ELC group, n = 45); no ELC group (non-ELC group, n = 45). There was no ELC or CAD in the control group (control group, n = 45). Serum Klotho concentration was obtained by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: The Klotho level in the ELC group was 365.6 ± 38.1 pg/mL, while the Klotho level in the non-ELC group was 568.8 ± 44.9 pg/mL. It is worth noting that the Klotho level of the ELC group was significantly lower than that of the non-ELC group (P < 0.001). The serum Klotho level of the control group was higher than that of the non-ELC group (593.3±45.3 vs 568.8±44.9 pg/mL, P = 0.702), but the difference was not statistically significant. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the Klotho level is a parameter that affects the appearance of ELC.

Conclusion: Serum Klotho levels were considerably lower in patients with ELC. We concluded that the perturbations of Klotho in patients might be associated with ELC and with CAD.

Keywords: Klotho; atherosclerosis; earlobe crease; premature aging.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a grant from the Taishan Scholars Project (XM. Wang), Project 81871354 and 81571672 supported by NSFC, Academic Promotion Programme of Shandong First Medical University (2019QL023).