Intercellular adhesion proteins — cadherin P, E, H and peripheral atherosclerosis

Cadherins are a group of proteins involved in calcium-dependent intercellular adhesion. Their role in atherogenesis is relevant for further research. Objective. To evaluate the relationship of P-, E-, and H-cadherins with peripheral arterial atherosclerosis. Materials and methods. A cohort of patients with coronary heart disease (n=218; 63±10.9 years, 54% male) was examined. Atherosclerosis of the brachiocephalic (BCA) and femoral arteries (FA) was diagnosed using a duplex scan on the Vivid-7 device in B mode (GE Vingmed Ultrasound AS, Norway). Serum cadherin levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay using commercially available kits (Bio-Techne Corporation R&D Systems, USA, and MyBioSource Inc., the Netherlands) and rabbit polyclonal antibodies to P-cadherin (Wuhan Fine Biotech Co., Ltd., PRC). Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 23.0 software (IBM Corporation, USA). Results. The average level of E-cadherin (ng/mL) was higher in patients in the group with FA atherosclerosis of ≥30% compared with patients in the group with FA atherosclerosis of <30% (477.8±196.6 and 394.5±173.1; p<0.05) and in patients in the group with FA atherosclerosis of ≥70% compared with patients with FA atherosclerosis of <70% (423.6±187.7 and 478.6±180.2; p=0.003), as well as in patients with BCA atherosclerosis of ≥30% compared with patients with BCA atherosclerosis of <30% (464.7±182.9 and 394.8±185.9; p<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis confirmed that the correlation between E-cadherin and peripheral atherosclerosis is independent of other cadherins studied. In addition, negative correlations were found between P-cadherin and the initial stage of FA atherosclerosis, a high average value of intima-media thickness, and H-cadherin with BCA atherosclerosis of more than 60%, as well as with the value of maximum BCA stenosis. Conclusions. The study demonstrated that E-cadherin is directly associated with peripheral atherosclerosis. Inverse relationships with peripheral atherosclerosis were found for H-cadherin and P-cadherin. Research on the mechanisms controlling vascular permeability is essential for the development of therapeutic strategies to treat cardiovascular diseases.