Correlation of cathepsin S with coronary stenosis degree, carotid thickness, blood pressure, glucose and lipid metabolism and vascular endothelial function in atherosclerosis

Abstract

Correlation of cathepsin S with coronary stenosis degree, carotid thickness, blood pressure, glucose and lipid metabolism, and vascular endothelial function in patients with atherosclerosis was investigated. Data from 120 patients with increased cathepsin S levels (increased group) and 120 subjects with normal cathepsin S levels (normal group) were retrospectively analyzed. The serum cathepsin S level and Gensini score were compared between the healthy subjects and patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, and the correlation between serum cathepsin S level and Gensini score was analyzed. The carotid thickness, mean arterial pressure, and indexes related to glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as vascular endothelial function were compared between the two groups. The correlation of the serum cathepsin S level with carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), mean arterial pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC) and nitric oxide (NO) was also investigated. Patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease (CAD) had higher serum cathepsin S level than those with double-vessel and single-vessel disease, and higher level than that of healthy subjects. The Gensini score of patients with multi-vessel CAD was higher than that of patients with double-vessel and single-vessel disease, as well as that of healthy subjects. The serum cathepsin S level was positively correlated with the Gensini score. Patients with increased cathepsin S level had greater IMT, higher mean arterial pressure, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin (FINS), triglyceride (TG), TC, and endothelin-1 (ET-1), however, lower NO level than those of healthy subjects. The serum cathepsin S level was positively correlated with IMT, mean arterial pressure, fasting blood glucose, and TC, however, it was negatively correlated with the NO level. In conclusion, as the serum cathepsin S level is elevated, the coronary stenosis is aggravated, the carotid thickness and blood pressure are increased, and the glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as vascular endothelial function are significantly abnormal.

Cathepsins in the Pathophysiology of Mucopolysaccharidoses: New Perspectives for Therapy

“…Indeed, cardiac disease has been described in MPS III patients as well as in patients affected by the other MPS subtypes [178,179]. Multiple evidence demonstrated the involvement of CTSs in many cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy, myocardial infarction, and hypertension, some of which are common clinical manifestations in MPSs [8,10,[17][18][19]36,56,61,66,76,80,81]. In particular, CTSB results in being up-regulated in cardiomyocytes in response to hypertrophic stimuli both in vivo and in vitro [180].…”

Elevated Serum Cystatin C and Decreased Cathepsin S/Cystatin C Ratio Are Associated with Severe Peripheral Arterial Disease and Polyvascular Involvement

“…In a clinical study performed on 120 patients with high serum cathepsin S levels vs. age and sex-matched controls, the incidence of coronary artery disease and hypertension was significantly higher, and the intima-media thickness was also increased. Serum cathepsin S levels correlated strongly with the Gensini score, and patients with multi-vessel coronary artery involvement had higher Cat S than those with double-, or only single-vessel involvement [29]. Circulating forms of pro-cathepsin S, and active cathepsin S along with Cys C were higher in the plasma of abdominal aneurysm patients, and the latter two proved to be independent risk factors in multivariate logistic regression models [30].…”

The role of CD74 in cardiovascular disease

“…In APCs, cathepsin S gene knockout or inhibition by small molecule compounds reduces the degradation of CD74 and prevents the binding of MHC II to antigen peptides, thus reducing antigen presentation to CD4 + T cells ( 96 ). Studies have found that the increase of serum cathepsin S level was related to the aggravation of coronary artery stenosis, carotid artery thickening, blood pressure increase, and abnormal vascular endothelial function ( 97 ). However, it is not related to the increased risk of cardiovascular events in patients with stable coronary heart disease ( 98 ).…”