Summary
An increasing number of descriptive reports on soluble adhesion molecules and association
with various diseases are published. Throughout these reports soluble adhesion molecules
are identified as markers of inflammation. Since atherosclerosis demonstrates features
of a chronic inflammatory disease, a potential association of soluble adhesion molecules
with atherosclerosis has been postulated. However, conflicting results have been reported.
One reason for this might be the differing definitions of atherosclerosis and patient
groups. Besides the definition of atherosclerosis based on clinical symptoms, few
reports use a direct quantification of atherosclerosis in their search for a marker
of atherosclerosis. In those reports that quantify atherosclerosis, sVCAM-1 seems
to be more specific for atherosclerosis than other markers. The serum level of sVCAM-1
appears to correlate with the extent of atherosclerosis and might allow for the detection
of early stages of atherosclerosis. Large scale prospective studies will have to prove
that sVCAM-1 can be used as a diagnostic tool for the detection of early stages of
asymptomatic atherosclerosis and whether an early therapeutic intervention based on
this approach is able to prevent progression and manifestation of the clinical sequelae
of atherosclerosis.
Key words
Atherosclerosis - adhesion molecules - VCAM-1 - serum marker
