Open AccessAssociation of serum calcium concentrations with fibrinogen and homocysteine in nondiabetic Korean subjects
Author(s) -
Hyun Sun Cho,
Sung Won Lee,
JuYoung Shin,
Sung Dae Moon,
Je Ho Han,
Bong Yun,
Eun Sook Kim
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.59
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1536-5964
pISSN - 0025-7974
DOI - 10.1097/md.0000000000003899
Subject(s) - medicine , homocysteine , fibrinogen , odds ratio , endocrinology , quartile , confounding , confidence interval , insulin resistance , risk factor , insulin
Abstract Considerable evidence shows that increased serum calcium levels are associated with metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and increased mortality. This study investigated whether serum calcium, within a normal range, is significantly associated with serum fibrinogen and homocysteine, markers of increased cardiovascular disease risk in nondiabetic Korean subjects. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 1096 subjects (mean age, 55.1 ± 11.1 years; 36.1% women) undergoing a general health checkup. Serum biochemistry was analyzed including serum albumin-corrected calcium (Ca c ), insulin resistance (IR, using homeostasis model assessment [HOMA]), fibrinogen, and homocysteine. Compared with patients within the lowest Ca c quartile, those with higher Ca c levels had increased fibrinogen and homocysteine levels as well as an increased proportion of smoking, dyslipidemia, and HOMA-IR. Correlation analyses revealed linear relationships for Ca c with fibrinogen and homocysteine in both genders. After adjustment for confounding factors, serum Ca c was significantly associated with high fibrinogen (odds ratio [OR] for the highest vs the lowest quartile = 1.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09–2.83, P = 0.02) and homocysteine (OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.07–3.11, P = 0.027). Multivariate regression models showed that Ca c was linearly associated with fibrinogen (standardized β = 0.14, P < 0.001) and homocysteine (standardized β = 0.07, P = 0.009). High normal calcium concentrations were independently associated with increased levels of fibrinogen and homocysteine. Further investigation is needed to validate whether slightly increased calcium levels within the normal range indicate a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.