Correlation between circulating dephosphorylated uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein and vascular calcification in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Introduction: To explore the association between serum Dephosphorylated uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein (dp-ucMGP) and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

Methods: A total 128 PD patients and 120 healthy controls were enrolled into the study. Serum dp-ucMGP was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Abdominal lateral plain radiography was used to evaluate the abdominal aortic calcification score (AACS). PD patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of AAC. The relationships between dp-ucMGP levels and AACS were assessed by Spearman analysis and the value of dp-ucMGP in predicting AAC was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC).

Results: Serum dp-ucMGP in PD patients were significantly higher than controls ( < 0.05). And PD patients with AAC had higher serum dp-ucMGP than that of PD patients without AAC ( < 0.05). The serum dp-ucMGP levels was positively associated with AACS ( = 0.794,  < 0.0001) in PD patients. The multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that serum dp-ucMGP was independent factors of AAC in PD patients (OR = 2.555, 95% CI = 1.415-4.609). The area under ROC curve of dp-ucMGP was 0.9227, the corresponding sensitivity was 0.86, and the specificity was 0.92.

Conclusion: Serum dp-ucMGP levels were positively associated with the AACS in PD patients. Higher serum dp-ucMGP level is independently associated with AAC in PD patients.