To investigate the association between serum soluble costimulatory molecule programmed death factor 1 (sPD-1) and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS).

Sixty-nine patients with CAS plaques who underwent physical examination at Shanghai Huadong Sanatorium from January to December 2016 were selected as a study group (CAS group), and another 72 patients without CAS plaques were selected as a control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the concentrations of serum sPD-1. The t-test was used to compare the difference of serum sPD-1 between the two groups. Pearson or Spearman method was used to analyze the correlations of serum sPD-1 with age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), lipoprotein a [Lp(a)], and fasting blood glucose (FBG). Pearson or Spearman method was also used to analyze the correlation between plaque Crouse score and various indicators in the CAS group. The risk factors for CAS plaque were identified by binary Logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic value of sPD-1 in predicting CAS plaque formation.

The concentration of sPD-1 in the CAS group was significantly higher than that in the control group ([1.26±1.01] μg /L vs [0.64±0.49] μg/L, t=4.598, P<0.001). SPD-1 was positively correlated with age, BMI, WHR, TG, FBG, and HbA1c (P<0.05), and negatively correlated with gender (male as the reference), HDL-c, and LP(a) (P<0.05). Plaque Crouse score was positively correlated with age and SBP (P<0.05), and negatively correlated with TG (P<0.05). Age, drinking, LDL-c, and sPD-1 were identified to be risk factors for CAS plaque formation. ROC curve analysis showed that sPD-1 had medium diagnostic value for carotid atherosclerotic plaque formation (P<0.05).

sPD-1 may play a role in the formation and development of CAS plaques, and it has appreciated diagnostic value in predicting the formation of CAS plaques.

Soluble costimulatory molecule; Programmed cell death-1; Carotid atherosclerosis plaque