The RANKL: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) ratio as a new biomarker for coronary artery disease

Nasolacrimal There is a strong need for biomarkers to identify patients at risk for future cardiovascular events related with progressive atherosclerotic disease. Ideally, increasing knowledge of the mechanisms of atherosclerotic plaque destabilization should be translated in clinical practice. Systemic approaches are pursued to discover serum biomarkers that are applicable to define patients at risk for future cardiovascular events. Elevation in inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein, predicts outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndromes. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) protects the skeleton from excessive bone resorption by binding to receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) and preventing it from binding to its receptor, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB. Emerging evidence from in vitro studies, mouse genetics and clinical studies attributed to OPG an important role in vascular biology. But conflicting results have been obtained about association of serum level of OPG or RANKL with coronary artery disease (CAD). Based on their role in inflammation and matrix degradation and the fact that atherosclerotic plaque formation is an inflammatory process; we hypothesized that RANKL:OPG ratio could be a better biomarker for CAD.