Vascular endothelial growth factor and carotid intima-media thickness in patients with Behçet’s disease

Abstract

There is morphologic evidence of subclinical atherosclerosis in Behçet's disease (BD) patients obtained by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography (US). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenetic factor and a marker for endothelial dysfunction. VEGF could contribute to the pathological events in BD. VEGF could also be an important factor in the progression of atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated whether there is correlation between intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid arteries and serum VEGF levels in BD patients and healthy controls. Twenty-one patients with BD (male/female: 15/6, mean age: 35.8 +/- 8.6 years) were individually matched to control subjects on the basis of age (within 3 years) and sex. Carotid IMT of the subjects was measured by high-resolution B-mode US. Mean IMT values of common carotid arteries were 0.86 +/- 0.18 mm for patients with BD, and 0.57 +/- 0.14 mm for healthy controls (p < 0.001). Mean VEGF levels were 130.41 +/- 58.28 pg/ml for patients with BD and 82.69 +/- 25.03 pg/ml for healthy controls (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between VEGF levels in the control group and in the BD group, but there was a significant correlation between VEGF levels and mean carotid IMT in the whole group (r = 0.317, p < 0.05). In conclusion, elevation of VEGF appears as a feature of the inflammatory reaction during the course of BD, not a direct determinant of subclinical atherosclerosis. On the other hand, the significant correlation between carotid IMT and serum VEGF levels in the whole group suggests that association between VEGF levels and carotid IMT warrants further investigation with larger sample sizes.

Subclinical atherosclerosis in Behcet’s disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…1), 24 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the analysis: 9 investigated FMD and/or EMD [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], 11 IMT [8,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] and 4 investigated both [37][38][39][40].…”

“…All investigators measured IMT at the common carotid artery but for one study where the authors presented the average IMT taken at the distal common carotids, at the far wall of the carotid bulbs and at the far wall of the internal carotid artery [8]. Indeed studies varied with regards to inclusion criteria: n ¼ 3 compared patients with and without vascular involvement and provided separate measurements [27,37,38], n ¼ 1 provided separate data for patients with and without systemic involvement (mucocutaneous only) [36], n ¼ 3 studies included a mixture of active and inactive disease [32,34,40] of which one provided separate data for active and inactive disease [32], n ¼ 3 studies were carried out on patients with low or inactive disease [31,33,35], n ¼ 2 were carried out on patients without vascular and/or systemic involvement [38,39] and n ¼ 2 were carried out in patients without cardiovascular risk factors [28,30].…”

Management and prognosis of nonpulmonary large arterial disease in patients with Behçet disease

“…22 Also, vascular endothelial growth factor which is a potent stimulator of angiogenesis is reported to be increased in Behçet disease. 23 We recently had to ligate a common iliac artery for a recurrent saccular aneurysm 10 years after the last operation of iliofemoral venous conduit ligation in a patient in this series. This patient complained of short-distance claudication probably because of ligation at two levels.…”

Neutrophil–Lymphocyte Ratio and Carotid–Intima Media Thickness in Patients With Behçet Disease Without Cardiovascular Involvement

“…20 With the growing understanding of the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of BD, researchers have focused on cIMT and other markers for the evaluation of this disease. 4 Both cIMT and inflammatory markers are raised in patients with BD than in control participants. 20 Measurements of cIMT using ultrasound assess the extent and the severity of systemic ınflammation.…”