2023-05-04 00:25:58
For years, researchers have been trying to assess the predictor of morbidity and mortality from atherosclerosis. A new study by the cardiology department at the Kaplan Medical Center links for the first time between high levels of the inflammatory index TREM2 in the blood and the chances of death from atherosclerosis.
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The study was based on previous studies in the field of brain research and Alzheimer’s, which followed the TREM2 protein found in the blood system and undergoing a structural change whose origin is unknown.
The researchers wanted to check if there is a correlation between the inflammatory index and the progression of arteriosclerosis. This is because in Alzheimer’s patients the protein is cut outside the cell for reasons that are not clear and the soluble parts (sTREM 2) are secreted into the spinal fluid, and it is now known that the process of breaking down the protein also occurs in the hearts of patients with atherosclerosis.
As part of the study, led by Prof. Kobi George, director of the cardiology department at the Kaplan Medical Center, the researchers followed 283 patients, 230 of whom were diagnosed with severe atherosclerosis, that is, one artery over 50% at least, and 53 patients without atherosclerosis and without History of cardiac ischemia.
All patients underwent catheterization at the Kaplan Medical Center between 2010 and 2013, and were followed up for seven years. The average age of the researched was 67 (range of 12 years), two thirds of them were men.
The researchers were not able to prove that there is a correlation between an increase in the levels of the index and the progression of the disease, but found a clear connection between high levels of this index among patients suffering from atherosclerosis and their mortality.
Dr. Valery Kutciuk, a cardiologist and one of the study’s editors, explained: “This is actually the first time that a study succeeds in finding a link between the mortality of patients with atherosclerosis and an inflammatory index, which is the TREM2 levels in their blood. In fact, even if theoretically at this stage, we can take a patient who comes for a relatively simple operation, let’s say an elective catheterization, check the levels of the TREM2 protein and say what his chances of mortality are.”
Prof. George added: “This is a groundbreaking study, which lays the foundations for further studies that can help us understand which patients are at risk of dying from atherosclerosis. Our ability to know which of the patients is at higher risk allows us to ‘hug’ them closer and treat them At the same time, this research is an integral part of developing an infrastructure for a possible treatment for the disease.”
The following took part in the study: Dr. Sagi Tzhouri, Dr. Yigal Wologarski, Dr. Livy Grib, Dr. Gal Sela, Dr. Ortal Toveli, Dr. Michael Walt, Dr. Michael Pelser and Prof. Sara Shimoni.
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