Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Level is Associated with Aortic Stiffness

OBJECTIVES
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a serological marker used in the diagnosis of malignancies and is also associated with inflammatory events. It has also been reported that CEA is associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, not much is known about the relationship between arterial stiffness (AS) and CEA. In this study, we investigated the relationship between serum CEA levels and AS.

METHODS
The data of 371 (female=192, male=179) individuals who applied for cardiac check-up without obvious CVD were analyzed cross-sectionally. Echocardiography was used to assess the participants' aortic stiffness index (ASI).

RESULTS
In our sample ASI and CEA were determined as (median=8.98, IQR 7.60) and (median=1.58ng/ml, IQR 1.52) respectively. ASI and CEA levels were significantly higher in males than females. A significant correlation was observed between CEA and ASI in the whole sample (r=0.550, p<0.001) and separately in females (r=0.480, p<0.001) and males (r=0.602, p<0.001). In multivariate stepwise regression analysis, female gender (r=-0.081, P<0.001), age (r=0.006, P<0.001), BMI (r=0.007, P=0.002) and CEA (r=0.375, P<0.001) were determined as the strongest independent variables associated with AS. When the model was adapted separately for females and males, age and CEA were determined as independent variables for AS in both genders.

CONCLUSION
CEA level is associated with AS in healthy individuals. However, the clinical significance of this relationship is unknown.