By suppressing mineralization and preventing ectopic calcium deposits, osteopontin (OPN) has an inhibitory effect on vascular calcification. Also, there is an association between OPN and aortic stiffness (AS). We aimed to investigate the association between serum OPN levels and AS measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) in hypertensive patients. Baseline characteristics and fasting blood sampling of 120 participants with hypertension and 120 participants without hypertension were acquired. Serum OPN concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In total, 43 (35.9%) participants were assigned to the AS group with cfPWV of >10 m/s in hypertensive patients. There were more patients with diabetes mellitus, old age, high systolic blood pressure, high serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), elevated C-reactive protein, and high OPN levels in the AS group compared with the control group in hypertensive participants. A multivariate logistic regression analysis discloses that age, SBP, serum OPN, and iPTH levels were independently associated with AS in hypertensive patients. Moreover, according to a multivariate forward stepwise linear regression analysis, OPN level is positively associated with cfPWV. In conclusion, serum OPN level is assumed to be a potential biomarker to predict AS and is positively associated with cfPWV in patients with hypertension.
Keywords: aortic stiffness; carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity; hypertension; osteopontin.