Correlation of Coronary Calcium Scores with Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Levels in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Introduction: As noted in the guidelines, the efficacy of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is remarkable in the intermediate-risk group for coronary artery disease; however, it exposes the patients to radiation. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) could be an alternative to CACS in patients with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: In 2018, 86 volunteer patients (female: n=36; male: n=50) aged 25-85 years were included in the study among all patients whose CACS measurements were made in the radiology clinic. In our hospital, CACS images are obtained using 64-slice computed tomography. Serum GDF-15 levels were measured from venous blood. Participants were divided into two groups as zero and high (>0) according to the CACS. SPSS 21.0 was used for the statistical analysis. Results: Participants were compared with zero (female: n=16; male: n=17; mean age: 53.93 years) and high (>0) (female: 20, male: 33; mean age: 58.2 years) CACS groups. Leukocytes, GDF-15 levels, and monocyte/high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio were significantly higher in the CACS group (p<0.05). Significant positive correlations were found between CACS and GDF-15 (rs=0.21), monocyte/HDL-C ratio (rs=0.29), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (rs=0.21) (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, GDF-15 and inflammatory markers were positively correlated with CACS. A significant difference was found in GDF-15 between patients with and without critical stenosis. Therefore, we can predict that the prognostic value of GDF-15 will be higher, especially in patients with critical stenosis. In this respect, studies with larger samples are needed.