The Circulating GRP78/BiP Is a Marker of Metabolic Diseases and Atherosclerosis: Bringing Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress into the Clinical Scenario.

Background: Glucose-regulated protein 78/Binding immunoglobulin protein (GRP78/BiP) is a protein associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress and is upregulated by metabolic alterations at the tissue-level, such as hypoxia or glucose deprivation, and it is hyper-expressed in fat tissue of obese individuals.

Objective: To investigate the role of the GRP78/BiP level as a metabolic and vascular disease biomarker in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM), obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS).

Methods: Four hundred and five patients were recruited, of whom 52.5% were obese, 72.8% had DM, and 78.6% had MS. The intimae media thickness (cIMT) was assessed by ultrasonography. The plasma GRP78/BiP concentration was determined, and its association with metabolic and vascular parameters was assessed. Circulating GRP78/BiP was also prospectively measured in 30 DM patients before and after fenofibrate/niacin treatment and 30 healthy controls.

Results: In the cross-sectional study, the GRP78/BiP level was significantly higher in the patients with obesity, DM, and MS. Age-, gender- and BMI-adjusted GRP78/BiP was directly associated with LDL-cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, apoB, and cIMT. GRP78/BiP was positively associated to carotid plaque presence in the adjusted model, irrespective of obesity, DM and MS. In the prospective study, nicotinic acid treatment produced a significant reduction in the GRP78/BiP levels that was not observed with fenofibrate.

Conclusions: GRP78/BiP plasma concentrations are increased in patients with both metabolic derangements and subclinical atherosclerosis. GRP78/BiP could be a useful marker of metabolic and cardiovascular risk.