Serum soluble TREM2 is an independent biomarker associated with coronary heart disease

Wenwu Liu; Shuwei Weng; Huixing Liu; Chenghui Cao; Shuai Wang; Sha Wu; Jia He; Yang Yang; Die Hu; Yonghong Luo; Daoquan Peng

doi:10.1016/j.cca.2023.117499

Serum soluble TREM2 is an independent biomarker associated with coronary heart disease

Clin Chim Acta. 2023 Aug 1:548:117499. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2023.117499. Epub 2023 Aug 1.

Authors

Wenwu Liu¹, Shuwei Weng¹, Huixing Liu¹, Chenghui Cao¹, Shuai Wang¹, Sha Wu¹, Jia He¹, Yang Yang¹, Die Hu¹, Yonghong Luo¹, Daoquan Peng²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Research Institute of Blood Lipids and Atherosclerosis, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
² Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Research Institute of Blood Lipids and Atherosclerosis, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China. Electronic address: pengdq@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37536519
DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2023.117499

Abstract

Background: Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a unique receptor expressed by macrophages in atherosclerotic plaque and is involved in the progression of atherosclerosis. Whether serum soluble TREM2 (sTREM2) levels has a relationship with coronary heart disease (CHD) remains unclear.

Methods: The cross-sectional study included 86 patients with CHD and 86 controls matched with age and sex. Demographic information, medication history, and laboratory data were collected. sTREM2 concentrations were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We compared the sTREM2 levels in two groups and constructed stepwise linear regression analysis for factors related to the sTREM2 level in patients with CHD; we further used the logistic regression model to evaluate the relationship between sTREM2 and CHD. The diagnostic value of sTREM2 and other biomarkers in CHD was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).

Results: The serum level of sTREM2 in CHD patients is higher than that in controls. In CHD patients, the stepwise linear regression analysis found that sTREM2 levels were correlated with triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterols (HDL-C), apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and smoking status. Logistic regression models showed that sTREM2 was associated independently with CHD after adjusted confounders. The ROC curve showed a sensitivity of 59.3% and specificity of 81.4% with an area under the curve of 0.781 (95% CI: 0.711-0.852) for the diagnosis of CHD with serum sTREM2 at a cut-off value of > 1104.894 pg/ml, indicating a higher diagnostic value than high sensitivity C reaction protein (hs-CRP) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB).

Conclusion: In this study, we provide evidence that sTREM2 levels are elevated in CHD patients and are associated with various cardiovascular risk factors. Additionally, sTREM2 demonstrates better diagnostic performance compared to traditional indicators in identifying CHD. These findings suggest that sTREM2 may serve as a potential biomarker for coronary heart disease.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Coronary heart disease; Inflammation; Lipid metabolism; Triggering Receptor Expressed in Myeloid Cells 2; sTREM2.

MeSH terms

Apolipoproteins B
Atherosclerosis*
Biomarkers / analysis
C-Reactive Protein / analysis
Coronary Disease* / diagnosis
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Membrane Glycoproteins
Receptors, Immunologic

Substances

Biomarkers
C-Reactive Protein
Apolipoproteins B
TREM2 protein, human
Membrane Glycoproteins
Receptors, Immunologic