The Relationship of Serum Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Levels to Intima-Media Thickness in Dyslipidemic Patients

Dyslipidemias are very important risk factors for onset of atherosclerosis. Serum fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF 21) could be a new promising marker to determine the risk of atherosclerosis.However, there is limited information about the relationships of FGF 21 and atherosclerosis in recent literature the aim of this study was to evaluate relationships of serum FGF 21 levels to intimamedia thickness (IMT), as a surrogate marker of subclinical atherosclerosis manifestation, in dyslipidemic patients. We examined 155 individuals divided into 3 groups: dyslipidemic patients with or without metabolic syndrome (MetS+, MetS-) and controls. We found significantly higher serum FGF 21 levels and IMT in MetS+ group than in MetS- group (p<0.05) as well as in controls (p<0.05). In MetS- group and in all dyslipidemic patients (MetS- and MetS+), IMT correlated positively with serum FGF 21 (r=0.486, r=0.573; p<0.01 both). In MetS- group, IMT was independently associated with FGF 21 (p<0.01). We verified independent positive association between IMT and FGF 21 in Caucasian dyslipidemic patients without presence of metabolic syndrome.