Key result
Lower serum albumin shows no association with prevalent carotid plaques in men or women.
Why the study?
Lower concentrations of albumin have been positively related to coronary disease, but the association between serum albumin and carotid atherosclerosis was unclear.
Is lower serum albumin associated with an increased prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis?
Cross-Sectional (n=2,072)
Is lower serum albumin associated with an increased prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis?
Lower serum albumin levels are not associated with an increased prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis, suggesting albumin may not be a direct risk factor for carotid plaque formation.
No association with carotid plaques or IMT cautions against using albumin for atherosclerosis screening; leaves open links to coronary disease or incident events.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Lower concentrations of albumin have been positively related to coronary disease. The aim of this project was to assess the association between serum albumin and carotid atherosclerosis. METHODS: B-mode ultrasound was used to assess carotid plaques and intima-media thickness (IMT) among white subjects from 592 randomly ascertained families in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study. Logistic regression was used to estimate prevalence odds ratios of any carotid plaques. RESULTS: Of the 2072 persons studied, 47% were men. Higher serum albumin was associated with younger age, lower body mass index, and lower prevalence of hypertension and coronary disease. Lower serum albumin levels were not associated with an increased odds of carotid plaques. From the lowest to the highest quartile of albumin, multivariate adjusted odds ratios for the prevalence of any carotid plaques were 1.05 (95% CI, 0.59 to 1.86), 1.34 (95% CI, 0.78 to 2.32), 1.03 (95% CI, 0.52 to 1.86), and 1.0 (reference), respectively, in men and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.40 to 1.26), 0.76 (95% CI, 0.42 to 1.36), 0.79 (95% CI, 0.46 to 1.36), and 1.0, respectively, in women. Similarly, in a linear regression model adjusted for demographic, lifestyle, and metabolic factors, serum albumin was not associated with carotid IMT. When the first 3 were compared with the highest quartile of serum albumin, regression coefficients for internal carotid IMT were 0.06458 (SE, 0.06408), 0.07205 (SE, 0.05469), and 0.000773 (SE, 0.05687), respectively, for men and -0.01795 (SE, 0.05085), -0.08501 (SE, 0.04800), and 0.009528 (SE, 0.04622), respectively, for women. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that lower serum albumin levels are not associated with an increased odds of prevalent carotid atherosclerosis in either men or women.
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Djoussé et al. (2003) conducted a cross-sectional in Carotid atherosclerosis (n=2,072). Lower serum albumin levels vs. Highest quartile of serum albumin was evaluated on Prevalence of any carotid plaques (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.59-1.86). Lower serum albumin levels were not associated with an increased odds of prevalent carotid plaques in men (OR 1.05; 95% CI 0.59-1.86) or women (OR 0.71; 95% CI 0.40-1.26).
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