Association of asymptomatic target organ damage with secreted frizzled related protein 5 in the elderly: the Northern Shanghai Study

Objective: Secreted frizzled related protein 5 (SFRP5) is a novel anti-inflammatory adipokine that is implicated in metabolic and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, little is known about the relevance of SFRP5 with asymptomatic hypertensive target organ damages (TODs). We aimed to investigate the association between SFRP5 and TOD in a large population. Methods: A total of 1,745 community-dwelling elderly subjects aged over 65 years from northern Shanghai were recruited in the study. Plasma SFRP5 level was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Asymptomatic TODs, including left ventricular mass index, peak transmitral pulsed Doppler velocity/early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV), estimated glomerular filtration rate, and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio were evaluated. Results: Plasma SFRP5 level was negatively associated with body mass index, waist/hip ratio, and fasting blood glucose (all P < 0.001). Men, compared with women, had lower plasma SFRP5 level (4.19 vs 5.13 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Additionally, plasma SFRP5 level was lower in diabetics than in those without diabetes (4.30 vs 4.81 ng/mL, P < 0.05). Furthermore, an inverse association was observed between SFRP5 and PWV and CIMT (both P < 0.05). Lastly, the multivariate logistic regression analysis showed lower SFRP5 level was significantly associated with increased arterial stiffness in the elderly (odds ratio 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.71 to 0.99 per 1 standard deviation increase, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Plasma SFRP5 level was inversely correlated with conventional cardiovascular risk factors, and low plasma SFRP5 was also significantly associated with arterial stiffening in the elderly Chinese population.