Circulating soluble adhesion molecules in patients with systemic sclerosis: correlation between circulating soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(sVCAM-1) and impaired left ventricular diastolic function

The objective of this paper is to investigate the relation between circulat ing soluble adhesion molecules and cardiac involvement, as assessed by echo cardiography in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Nineteen patients w ith SSc were submitted for assessment of serum levels of circulating solubl e intercellular adhesion molecules (sICAM-1), and soluble vascular cell adh esion molecules-1 (sVCAM-1), and echocardiography. Abnormal left ventricula r filling patterns (down arrowE/A ratio) were detected in ten patients (52. 6%) with significant negative correlation with sVCAM-1 (r = -0.484, P < 0.0 5). It was also significantly correlated with age (r = -0.791, P < 0.01), a ge of onset (r = -0.468, P < 0.05), degree of dyspnea (r = -0.687, P < 0.01 ), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (r = -0.489, P < 0.05). Our fin dings suggest an important role for sVCAM-1 as a marker of disease severity and impaired left ventricular filling pattern in SSc.