Background: One previous pilot study suggested the association of low plasma glucosylceramide (GlcCer) levels with venous thrombosis (VTE) risk.
Objective: We aimed to confirm and evaluate the association of low plasma GlcCer levels with VTE and myocardial infarction (MI) occurrence, respectively.
Patients and methods: We evaluated the association of GlcCer in two independent case-control studies of Caucasian VTE populations (N = 210 and 636) and one case-control study of Caucasian MI patients (N = 345).
Result: Plasma GlcCer levels in VTE patients were lower compared to controls in two independent VTE populations (5.0 vs 5.8 μg/mL, p = 0.003 for the Scripps registry, and 5.6 vs 6.0 μg/mL, p = 0.001 for the Valencia registry, respectively). A low plasma GlcCer level (below 10th percentile of controls) was associated with increased VTE occurrence [odds ratio (OR) = 3.7 (95%CI, 1.8-7.9) for Scripps registry and OR = 2.1 (95%CI, 1.3-3.3) for Valencia registry, respectively). For the MI study, the median GlcCer plasma level was lower in MI patients than in controls (4.3 vs 5.6 μg/mL, p<0.001), and a low level of GlcCer (below 10th percentile of control) was associated with higher MI occurrence [OR = 7.7, (95%CI, 4.3-13.8)].
Conclusion: Lower concentration of GlcCer was associated with VTE occurrence in two independent studies and also with MI occurrence in one study.
Keywords: epidemiology; glucosylceramide; myocardial infarction; risk factor; venous thrombosis.