Low level of the plasma sphingolipid, glucosylceramide, is associated with thrombotic diseases

Essentials Minor abundance plasma lipids, eg, glucosylceramide, can modulate blood coagulation reactions This lipid was measured in plasmas of 1 myocardial infarction and 2 venous thrombosis populations Low plasma glucosylceramide levels were found in each population compared to matched controls Low plasma glucosylceramide levels are associated with venous and arterial thrombosis Background One previous pilot study suggested the association of low plasma glucosylceramide (GlcCer) levels with venous thrombosis (VTE) risk. Objective We aimed to confirm and evaluate the association of low plasma GlcCer levels with VTE and myocardial infarction (MI) occurrence, respectively. Patients and Methods We evaluated the association of GlcCer in two independent case-control studies of Caucasian VTE populations (N=210 and 636) and one case-control study of Caucasian MI patients (N=345). Result Plasma GlcCer levels in VTE patients were lower compared to controls in two independent VTE populations (5.0 vs 5.8 μg/mL, P=.003 for the Scripps registry, and 5.6 vs 6.0 μg/mL, P=.001 for the Valencia registry, respectively). A low plasma GlcCer level (below tenth percentile of controls) was associated with increased VTE occurrence (odds ratio [OR]=3.7 [95% CI, 1.8-7.9] for Scripps registry and OR=2.1 [95% CI, 1.3-3.3] for Valencia registry, respectively). For the MI study, the median GlcCer plasma level was lower in MI patients than in controls (4.3 vs 5.6 μg/mL, P