Front Nutr. 2026 Apr 29;13:1783380. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1783380. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Vascular calcification predicts adverse cardiovascular outcomes. CTRP9, an adiponectin paralog, has vascular protective effects. We evaluated the association of circulating CTRP9 with aortic valve calcification (AVC) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in a cross-sectional observational study.
METHODS: Nine hundred coronary heart disease patients underwent echocardiography and optical coherence tomography; serum CTRP9 was measured in a subset. Logistic regression identified CAC determinants. ROC analysis assessed CTRP9 alone and combined with AVC for predicting severe CAC. AVC was modeled in ApoE-/- mice fed a Western diet for 24 weeks, with calcification markers analyzed via PCR and Western blot.
RESULTS: CTRP9 independently protected against CAC (OR = 0.156, 95% CI: 0.11-0.21, p < 0.05). CTRP9 predicted CAC severity (AUC = 0.74), and combining it with AVC improved prediction of severe CAC (AUC = 0.843). Kendall's Tau-b indicated strong correlation between severe AVC and CAC (τb = 0.597, p < 0.001). Exogenous CTRP9 attenuated aortic valve calcification in mice.
CONCLUSION: Lower CTRP9 levels associate with advanced AVC and greater CAC severity. Combining CTRP9 with AVC enhances risk prediction, highlighting CTRP9 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in vascular calcification.
PMID:42137864 | PMC:PMC13168057 | DOI:10.3389/fnut.2026.1783380