Investigation of the relationship between endocan and fetuin-A levels and SCORE2 and ASCVD risk scores in patients with chronic kidney disease

AIM: Chronic kidney disease is recognized as an important public health issue worldwide due to its increasing prevalence. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in CKD. The increased cardiovascular risk observed in CKD cannot be fully explained by traditional risk factors alone. Biomarkers of endothelial activation and inflammation are important contributors to this elevated risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum endocan and fetuin-A levels and 10-year cardiovascular risk scores calculated using the SCORE2 and ASCVD Risk Estimator Plus models in individuals diagnosed with CKD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 125 individuals aged 40–75 years with a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease and 34 healthy controls. Serum endocan and fetuin-A levels, along with routine biochemical analytes, were measured in all participants. Cardiovascular risk was calculated using the SCORE2 and ASCVD-RE+ models. RESULTS: No statistically significant relationship was found between serum endocan and fetuin-A levels and SCORE2 or ASCVD-RE+ risk scores (p>0.05). Endocan levels did not differ significantly among CKD stages, while fetuin-A levels showed a decreasing trend with disease progression, although this decrease was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Multivariable analyses revealed no independent effect of endocan or fetuin-A levels on cardiovascular risk scores. CONCLUSION: This study found that serum endocan and fetuin-A levels were not significantly associated with SCORE2 and ASCVD-RE+ risk scores in individuals diagnosed with CKD. These findings suggest that these biomarkers alone may not be sufficient to predict cardiovascular risk. However, due to the limited number of patients and the cross-sectional design, the results need to be confirmed with larger prospective studies.