Van Campenhout, Ann, Clancy, Paula, and Golledge, Jonathan (2007) Serum osteoprotegerin as a biomarker for vascular disease. American Journal of Cardiology, 100 (3). p. 561.

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Abstract

We read with great interest the report by Abedin et al1 showing the independent association of plasma osteoprotegerin (OPG) with coronary artery calcium and the presence of aortic plaques in a large, unselected population from the Dallas Heart Study. We congratulate the investigators on their impressive study and support the interest in OPG as a novel biomarker for atherosclerosis.

As stated in their discussion, most previous evidence suggesting an association between circulating OPG and vascular disease focuses on coronary artery disease. To extend these data, our group recently optimized a technique to reproducibly quantify the severity of infrarenal abdominal calcifications using contrast-enhanced computed tomographic angiography (MX800, Philips Medical Systems, Andover, Massachusetts) and appropriate thresholds. Using this technique in patients with peripheral artery disease (n = 109), we found a significant correlation between the severity of infrarenal abdominal aortic calcium and the serum concentration of OPG (r = 0.26, p = 0.006). We also demonstrated marked variation in calculated serum OPG concentrations depending on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay used. These variations appear largely attributable to differences in the standards used in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.3 Studies assessing the circulating level of OPG vary in the assay used and the units (picograms per milliliter vs picomoles per liter) in which values are expressed. Average serum OPG concentrations ranging from 3.5 to 18.5 pmol/L have been reported in patients with artery disease. The lack of uniform expression, the different values obtained by different OPG assays, and the different techniques to measure atherosclerosis complicate the assessment of biomarkers. In conclusion, the positive association between OPG and vascular pathology highlights the potential of OPG as a biomarker for vascular disease. To optimize the value of this biomarker, a uniform automated assay expressed in standardized units is required.

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