Figure 8.

Increased BLVRB and HMOX1 Levels Associate With Adverse Cardiovascular Events

BLVRB showed significant enrichment by SIA comparing peripheral plasma from both discovery (n = 43) and validation (n = 66) subsets of patients with carotid atherosclerosis compared with peripheral plasma from normal individuals (n = 61) (A). BLVRB was also enriched in an independent population cohort stratified by coronary artery calcium (CAC) score (n = 599 individuals with score 0, n = 281 score 0 to 100, n = 151 score >100), as shown with 2 different antibodies. p values calculated with ANOVA across all groups and Student t-test in comparison to score 0 (B). Plots show MFI with SD. BLVRB and HMOX1 transcripts were also significantly up-regulated in plaques from patients that experienced a previous infarction (n = 27) compared with those without previous events (n = 98). Plots showing mRNA expression log₂ mean ± SD (C). Plot illustrating major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events–free survival of patients during the 2,000-day follow-up period after surgery, based on HMOX1 expression in Biobank of Karolinska Endarterectomies plaques above (black) and below (red) the median values (x-axis, days event-free survival). Hazard ratio (HR) refers to HMOX1 high/HMOX1 low. Both symptomatic (n = 86) and asymptomatic (n = 40) patients were included in the analysis. Each mark along the lines indicates an event. Total number of events in the cohort was 58 (D). Expression of BLVRB and HMOX1 in plaques positively associated with plaque echolucency estimated by duplex ultrasound (E). Abbreviations as in Figures 1, 2, 5, and 7.