Assessment of Serum Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin in early detection of cardiovascular risk in patients with Vitiligo

Abstract

: Background: Patients with vitiligo may be more susceptible to cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, and other disorders since it is seen as a systemic disorder rather than a skin condition. Patients and methods: 44 non-segmental vitiligo patients and 41 healthy controls participated in this study. Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) Score was used in patient evaluation to determine the severity of vitiligo. With vitiligo patients, the Reynolds Risk Score (RRS) was used to assess cardiovascular risk. Serum levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) were measured for each participant using biochemical analyses. Results: In this study we found that Cases of vitiligo had higher median RRs score (1 (0.2-13.6) than control (0.9 (0.2-3) but this was statistically insignificant. Also, there was significant (p=0.008) association between disease status and RRs categories i.e., all control group had low risk of cardiac disease while 80% of vitiligo patients group had low risk, about 13% had medium risk and 7% had high risk. Vitiligo cases had insignificantly (p = 0.136) lower median serum NGAL level (246 (104 - 775 ng/ml) compared with control (276 (122 - 783 ng/ml) but this was within normal range of this marker (10ng/ml→3000ng/ml). Non-significant minimal positive correlation between serum NGAL level and RRs score was found (r=0.086, p=0.287). Conclusion: Vitiligo patients are more susceptible for cardiovascular diseases and assessment of serum NGAL level had no role in early detection of these disorders.