The Association of Blood Serum Atherogenicity with Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) caused by atherosclerosis are the most frequent cause of mortality worldwide, so the identification of new biomarkers of atherosclerosis development is quite actual. The atherogenicity of blood serum is considered as the potential of human serum to cause cholesterol accumulation in primary culture macrophages. The current study aimed to evaluate the association of the atherogenicity of blood serum with conventional cardiovascular risk factors to assess its potential in CVD prognosis. Serum atherogenicity was measured in 815 study CVD-free participants at baseline and at the follow-up visit after 5 years. 51% of study participants had atherogenic serum at baseline, but at the follow-up visit after 5 years atherogenicity increased significantly in 60% of participants. An increase of atherogenicity was observed in the group with non-atherogenic serum at baseline, p<0.001. The correlation of serum atherogenicity with plasma lipids level, i.e., total cholesterol and LDL, was demonstrated. There was a negative correlation between changes in the potential of blood serum to induce cholesterol accumulation in primary culture macrophages and the age of study participants (r = -0.089, p = 0.011). In groups with decreased and unchanged atherogenicity, the increase of statin administration, as well as amelioration of lipids profile, were revealed after a 5-year follow-up. Thus, the atherogenicity of blood serum may be considered a promising marker in the prognosis of CVD development, but further research is needed to evaluate the prognostic value of serum atherogenicity.