Soluble CD163 is associated with body mass index and blood pressure in hypertensive obese Saudi patients

Eur J Clin Invest 2012; 42 (11): 1221–1226 Abstract Background The hallmark of vascular inflammation is the recruitment of circulating leucocytes, primarily monocytes, macrophages and T lymphocytes, into the vascular wall; however, the link between monocyte/macrophage activation and hypertension has not been established as yet. In this study, we determined how sCD163, a monocyte/macrophage soluble scavenger receptor and immunomodulator, relates to arterial blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive Saudi individuals. Materials and methods A total of 90 (30 non‐hypertensive obese, 30 hypertensive obese and 30 lean normotensive controls) adult Saudi subjects, aged 40–60 years, participated in this cross‐sectional study. Serum fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL‐cholesterol (HDL‐C), LDL‐cholesterol (LDL‐C), leptin, adiponectin, resistin, insulin, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), PAI‐1, angiotensin II, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) and sCD163 were measured in all subjects studied. Results sCD163 concentrations were significantly increased in obese hypertensive patients compared to controls ( P = 0·016). Positive correlations between sCD163 and body mass index (BMI) ( r = 0·27, P = 0·01), systolic BP ( r = 0·25, P = 0·01), diastolic BP ( r = 0·33, P = 0·001), LDL‐C ( r = 0·21, P = 0·04), TNF‐α ( r = 0·23, P = 0·02) and hsCRP ( r = 0·33, P = 0·008) were observed. Positive correlations between sCD163 and diastolic BP ( r = 0·23, P = 0·04) and LDL‐C ( r = 0·22, P = 0·03) remained significant after controlling for BMI. Conclusions Taken together, these data demonstrate that the monocyte/macrophage activation‐related sCD163 is positively associated with BMI and increased arterial BP with the elevation in diastolic BP being independent of the BMI.