The Relationship Between Atherogenic Index and Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis in Familial Mediterranean Fever: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a disease characterized by chronic inflammation. Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) is a logarithmic value of the triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and it is a good marker for atherosclerotic heart disease and cardiac risk. in this study, we investigated subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiac risks in patients with FMF. Patients with FMF (78 men and 84 women) and healthy controls (74 men and 82 women) were included in this study. the AIP values of the patients were calculated and carotid intima-media thicknesses (cIMTs) were measured. the cIMT (P < .001) and AIP (P < .001) values of patients with FMF were higher than the values of the control group. There was a positive correlation between cIMT and AIP values (r = .304, P < .001). in regression analysis, we detected an independent relationship between cIMT and AIP ( = .248, P = .001). Atherogenic index of plasma may be highly correlated with the subclinical atherosclerosis. Particularly, male patients with FMF may have a high cardiac risk.