ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship between the level of plasma ADAMTS4 and the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque in patients with carotid artery stenosis and the clinical value of evaluating the vulnerability of the carotid atherosclerotic plaque.Methods 60 patients with carotid artery stenosis were divided into stable plaque group and vulnerable plaque group according to the histopathological typing after carotid endarterectomy (CEA).30 patients who had atherosclerosis but no carotid plaque formation served as control.Using ELISA to measure the level of plasma ADAMTS4.Results The level of plasma ADAMTS4 was significantly higher in the vulnerable-plaque group (112.74 ± 17.47) ng/ml compared with the stable plaque group (56.67 ± 22.14)ng/ml and the control group (56.67 ± 22.14)ng/ ml,P ＜ 0.001.Logistic analysis showed that high level of plasma ADAMTS4 was risk factor for vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque (P ＜ 0.05,OR =8.240,95 ％ CI:1.512-22.915).ROC curve showed that ADAMTS4 =100.935 ng/ml could accurately predict significant vulnerability with accuracy of 94.3％.Conclusion ADAMTS4 is an effective,sensitive and non-invasive biomarker to evaluate the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque.