Circulating sortilin and inflammatory indeces in early coronary atherosclerosis

Objective – to assess circulating sortilin levels in patients with early clinically significant coronary atherosclerosis and to investigate associations between sortilin, composite cell-based inflammatory indices, and standard lipid parameters. Material and Methods. A case–control study was conducted at the Scientific Research Institution–Regional Clinical Hospital No. 1 named after Prof. S.V. Ochapovsky (Krasnodar, Russia) from January to June 2023. The clinical group comprised patients hospitalized with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome without myocardial infarction (unstable angina) and angiographically confirmed clinically significant coronary atherosclerosis (≥ 50 % stenosis in at least one segment). The control group (individuals without atherosclerosis) was selected using a «random envelope» method. Sortilin was measured by ELISA (Aviscera Bioscience, USA). Systemic inflammatory indices (SII, SIRI, AISI, NLR, PLR, MLR), fibrinogen, and lipid profile were assessed. Data are presented as median (Q1; Q3). Between-group comparisons used the Mann–Whitney U test; correlations were evaluated using Spearman’s rho. Results. A total of 128 participants were analyzed: 101 patients with clinically significant atherosclerosis and 27 controls. Sortilin levels were higher in the atherosclerosis group: 8.6 (2.6; 17.1) vs 2.3 (1.25; 10.65), p = 0.0058. Sortilin showed positive correlations with SII (ρ = 0.218, p = 0.013), SIRI (ρ = 0.203, p = 0.022), AISI (ρ = 0.210, p = 0.017), and NLR (ρ = 0.200, p = 0.023). No significant correlations were found between sortilin and PLR, MLR, fibrinogen, or standard lipid parameters (TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglycerides). Conclusions. Circulating sortilin is elevated in patients with early clinically significant coronary atherosclerosis and is associated with cell-based composite inflammatory indices, while showing no association with the standard lipid profile. These findings support sortilin as a potential marker of early atherosclerosis reflecting predominantly inflammatory–immune pathways.

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