YKL-40: a new biomarker in cardiovascular disease?

Anders Bruun Mathiasen, Kristoffer Mads Aaris Henningsen, Marina Jurjevna Harutyunyan, Naja Dam Mygind, Jens Kastrup

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26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease in the form of coronary artery disease is the most common cause of death in western countries. Early treatment with stabilizing drugs and mechanical revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary bypass surgery has reduced the mortality significantly. But in spite of improved treatments, many patients are still plagued by a high frequency of angina symptoms, hospitalizations and a poor prognosis. There is a need for new independent or supplementary biomarkers that can help to predict cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events earlier and more precisely, and thus accompany existing biomarkers in both primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention. One such potential new biomarker is the protein YKL-40. As an independent biomarker in both cardiovascular diseases and noncardiovascular diseases, current evidence suggests YKL-40 to be most useful as a marker of disease severity, prognosis and short survival. However, future studies will evaluate whether YKL-40 can be used for monitoring of the treatment effect in different patient populations with a distinct disease diagnosis. In this article we explore present knowledge on YKL-40 as a biomarker in cardiovascular disease.
Original languageEnglish
JournalBiomarkers in Medicine
Volume4
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)591-600
Number of pages10
ISSN1752-0363
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2010

Keywords

  • Adipokines
  • Biological Markers
  • Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Glycoproteins
  • Humans
  • Lectins
  • Prognosis

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