Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 plays an important role in vascular inflammation in current smokers

Aim: smoking induces vascular inflammation and increases the risk of cardiovascular events. lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (lox-1) is a scavenger receptor that is induced by oxidative stress and is associated with atherosclerotic plaque formation and destabilization. lox-1 interacts with c-reactive protein (crp) and plays an important role in inflammatory diseases. we therefore hypothesized that lox-1 may be involved in the onset of smoking-induced vascular inflammation. methods: we measured the soluble lox-1 (slox-1) levels in sera obtained from 207 current smokers. results: the serum slox-1 levels positively correlated with various smoking variables,such as the number of cigarettes smoked per day (r = 0.150,p<0.05),the expired air carbon monoxide (co) concentrations (r = 0.198,p<0.005) and the fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence scores (r = 0.190,p<0.01). the serum levels of slox-1 also correlated with those of a representative inflammatory marker,the serum high-sensitivity crp level (hscrp; r = 0.232,p<0.005). a multivariate regression analysis revealed the independent determinants of the serum slox-1 level to be the expired air co concentration (β= 0.182,p<0.05) and the hscrp level (β= 0.213,p<0.01). conclusions: the serum slox-1 level was found to increase in close association with both the smoking-related variables and the inflammatory marker hscrp. these findings suggest that lox-1 may therefore play an important role in the onset of smoking-induced inflammation and atherosclerosis in humans.