Peripheral vasculopathy in Raynaud phenomenon: Vascular disease biomarkers

AbstractBackgroundIntroduction: Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a well-defined clinical syndrome. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is the most frequent associated disease to RP (96%). The aim of this study was to assess the differences between primary RP (PRP) and secondary RP (SRP) regarding macrovascular disease parameters, endothelial dysfunction and angiogenesis biomarkers.Materials and methodsFlow-mediated dilatation (FMD), endothelin-1 (ET-1), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endoglin and endostatin were analyzed in a cohort study of 32 PRP patients and 77 SRP all with SSc. 38 of the SRP SSc-associated patients had severe digital ulcer (DU).ResultsPatients with PRP had significantly longer history of RP compared to SRP SSc-sssociated patients (p=0.028).FMD was significantly lower in SRP patients 10.85±11.0% (p<0.001), more evidenced in SRP SSc-associated DU patients 5.34±7.49 (p<0.001). ET-1 plasma levels were significantly increased in both PRP 7.53 (0.16–11.73) and SRP patients 11.85 (7.42–17.23) (p<0.001). Significant increased serum levels of ADMA 0.52 (0.45–0.63)μmol/L (p<0.001) and endoglin 3.01 (1.46–7.02)mg/ml (p<0.001) were found in the SRP SSc-associated group with DU. VEGF was significantly decreased in the DU group 245.06 (158.68–347.33)pg/ml compared to PRP 438.50 (269.26-854.00)pg/ml and SRP naïve–DU patients 290 (166.71–361.78)pg/ml patients (p