Association Between sRAGE and Arterial Stiffness in Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Background: sRAGE (soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products) is known to play a protective role in chronic inflammatory diseases, and has been found to be related to arterial stiffness in hypertensive or diabetic patients. This cross-sectional study was designed to study the potential association of sRAGE with arterial stiffness in systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) patients. Methods: A total of 94 female SLE patients were enrolled. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured by an automatic pulse wave analyzer. The patients were divided into two groups according to the baPWV values, those with values greater than 1400cm/s were placed in the high arterial stiffness group. Biochemical parameters were compared between the two groups. Linear and logistic regression analysis was used to observe the association between sRAGE and arterial stiffness in these patients. Results: Thirty-five patients were placed in the high arterial stiffness group in which sRAGE levels were lower (P<0.05). sRAGE levels were significantly related to baPWV(standardized β=1.18, P<0.01) by linear regression analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sRAGE, SLE duration, systolic blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were independent predictors of arterial stiffness in these patients. Conclusion: The results revealed that sRAGE was negatively associated with arterial stiffness in Chinese female SLE patients.