B005: Association between low wall shear stress and plasma VCAM-1 in subjects with risk factors for atherosclerosis

In vitro studies demonstrated adhesion molecules could connect low shear stress and atherosclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between circulating adhesion molecules and carotid atherosclerosis and wall shear stress in essential hypertensive patients. Seventy subjects with risk factors for atherosclerosis, free from the medication for at least a week, were enrolled in the study. Intimal-media thickness (IMT) was evaluated by high-resolution ultrasonography. Shear rate was obtained from Poiseuilleans parabolic model: shear rate=4×blood velocity / carotid internal diameter. Shear stress was obtained by shear stress × blood viscosity. Plasma levels of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were measured by ELISA. There were no relationship between IMT and plasma levels of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. VCAM-1 showed a significant negative correlation with peak shear stress in common carotid artery (r=0.39, p<0.001), while there was no relationship between ICAM-1 and wall shear stress. These findings indicate that low shear stress may promote atherosclerosis through in part activation of soluble form of adhesion molecules.