Comparison of inflammatory biomarkers between peripheral artery disease patients and healthy individuals

Objectives: This study aimed to compare inflammatory markers such as fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, and white blood cell count between patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and healthy individuals and investigate whether there is a relationship between low-grade inflammation and PAD. Patients and methods: This case-control study was conducted with 162 individuals (107 males, 55 females; mean age: 52.5±13.7 years; range, 24 to 87) between January 2023 to January 2024. Eighty-seven of these participants were diagnosed with PAD by lower extremity color Doppler ultrasonography and computed tomography angiography, and the remaining 75 were healthy individuals. Biochemical results of patients and control groups were examined. Results: Comparing the groups, statistical significance (p<0.05) was found according to sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, blood glucose levels, blood creatinine levels, estimated glomerular filtration rate, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, fibrinogen, white blood cell count, and C-reactive protein levels. In the group of PAD patients, male sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and smoking were more prevalent, along with higher levels of glucose, creatinine, triglyceride, fibrinogen, white blood cell count, and C-reactive protein. Conclusion: Inflammation biomarkers, such as fibrinogen and C-reactive protein, were found to be significantly higher in the PAD group, indicating that the low-grade inflammation hypothesis may play a role in PAD. Large-scale, prospective, randomized controlled studies on this subject are needed.