# Serum aminoterminal type III procollagen peptide reflects increased vascular thickness in healthy, young adults

## TL;DR

This study shows that a blood marker called PIIINP correlates with early signs of vascular thickening in young, healthy adults, suggesting it could help detect future heart risks.

## Contribution

The study identifies PIIINP as a potential early biomarker for cardiovascular risk in young, healthy populations.

## Key findings

- Serum PIIINP levels correlated positively with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in young adults.
- PIIINP showed a stronger and consistent association with cIMT than with pulse wave velocity.
- PIIINP is proposed as a simpler and less invasive screening tool for early cardiovascular risk assessment.

## Abstract

Procollagen III, aminoterminal peptide (PIIINP) is a degradation product of collagen type III-synthesis. Collagen type III is distributed in many tissues, and an increase in serum PIIINP could reflect an increase in collagen turnover and pro-fibrotic activity. In this study, on a population of younger, healthy adults, we examined whether serum PIIINP correlates with early markers of vascular health, to evaluate its potential as a biomarker for early screening of preclinical cardiovascular risk.

PIIINP levels, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and Carotid-intima media thickness (cIMT) was measured in 834 healthy, non-smoking, individuals aged 18–26. In univariable and multivariable linear regression models, we examined the association between PIIINP and vascular measurements, PWV and cIMT with adjustment for serum lipids, liver enzymes and systolic blood pressure.

The average of PIIINP, PWV and cIMT measurements in this population, were low (7.1 and 7.3 µg/L, 5.5 and 5.2 m/s, and 0.50 and 0.49 mm for men and women, respectively). In univariable analyses, PIIINP correlated positively with cIMT (p = 0.0061) and negatively with PWV (p = 0.0069). In multivariable analyses, a statistically significant association remained between PIIINP and cIMT (p < 0.001), but not with PWV.

Serum PIIINP correlates with cIMT in a healthy population, indicating its potential as a biomarker of cardiovascular risk at a preclinical stage. PIIINP measurement being easier to perform and less examiner dependent than the more time consuming and cumbersome cIMT, are suggestive of its possible merits as an early screening tool for cardiovascular disease.