Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm.

INTRODUCTION: In the present study we investigated the impact of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) as a biomarker in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in relation to conventional inflammatory markers, aneurysm size, and rupture. METHODS: suPAR and conventional inflammatory markers were measured in 119 patients with AAA and 36 controls without aneurysm matched by age, gender and smoking habit. RESULTS: The results support earlier studies suggesting a state of activated inflammatory response in patients with nonruptured AAA as expressed by elevated CRP and IL-6 compared with the controls. In contrast, suPAR showed similar levels in patients with nonruptured AAA compared with the controls. Unexpectedly, all follow-up patients (n=16) have significant (p<0.001) elevated suPAR levels three years postoperatively compared preoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: suPAR does not seem to be a useful biomarker in the AAA disease. The role of the postoperative elevation of suPAR needs to be further elucidated.