Associations of pentraxin 3 with cardiovascular disease: the M ulti‐ E thnic S tudy of A therosclerosis

Summary Objective Pentraxin 3 ( PTX 3) is probably a specific marker of vascular inflammation. However, associations of PTX 3 with cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) risk have not been well studied in healthy adults or multi‐ethnic populations. We examined associations of PTX 3 with CVD risk factors, measures of subclinical CVD , coronary artery calcification ( CAC ) and CVD events in the M ulti‐ E thnic S tudy of A therosclerosis. Approach and Results Two thousand eight hundred and thirty‐eight participants free of prevalent CVD with measurements of PTX 3 were included in the present study. After adjustment for age, sex, and ethnicity, PTX 3 was positively associated with age, obesity, insulin, systolic blood pressure, C‐reactive protein ( CRP ), and carotid intima–media thickness (all P  < 0.045). A one standard deviation increase in PTX 3 level (1.62 ng mL −1 ) was associated with the presence of CAC in fully adjusted models including multiple CVD risk factors (relative risk of 1.05; 95% confidence interval [ CI ] 1.01–1.08). In fully adjusted models, a standard deviation higher level of PTX 3 was associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (hazard ratio [ HR ] 1.51; 95% [ CI ] 1.16–1.97), combined CVD events ( HR  1.23; 95% [ CI ] 1.05–1.45), and combined CHD events ( HR  1.33; 95% [ CI ] 1.10–1.60), but not stroke, CVD ‐related mortality, or all‐cause death. Conclusions In these apparently healthy adults, PTX 3 was associated with CVD risk factors, subclinical CVD , CAC and incident coronary heart disease events independently of CRP and CVD risk factors. These results support the hypothesis that PTX 3 reflects different aspects of inflammation than CRP , and may provide additional insights into the development and progression of atherosclerosis.