Extracellular heat shock protein 70 (HSPA1A) and classical vascular risk factors in a general population

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease. Candidate molecules/autoantigens include heat shock proteins (HSPs); Hsp70 (HSPA1A) is one of the best studied HSPs. Various studies have shown a correlation between extracellular Hsp70 (eHsp70) and anti-Hsp70/anti-Hsp60 antibody concentration and development of atherosclerosis. A random sample of 456 people aged 40–60 (218 males, 234 females) was studied to investigate the prevalence of traditional vascular risk factors and eHsp70 and anti-Hsp70/anti-Hsp60 antibodies levels, according to the risk of vascular disease. Task Force Chart was applied for classification. Subjects were divided into three groups: G0 (with no vascular risk factor or a risk lower than 5%), n = 239; G1 (moderated 10–20% risk, who do not have established disease) n = 161; and G2 (established atherosclerosis disease) n = 52. eHsp70 and anti-Hsp70 were significantly lower in the atherosclerosis group (group 2) with respect to the other groups. Disease-free people showed the highest anti-Hsp60 concentration compared with the other two groups. A correlation has not been demonstrated between the concentrations of circulating Hsp70 (HSPA1A), anti-Hsp70, and anti-Hsp60 and classical vascular risk factors and C-reactive protein. Low levels of eHsp70 and anti-Hsp70 antibodies should be considered as candidate FRV. Simultaneous decrease of eHsp70 and anti-Hsp70 antibodies would be explained by circulating immune complex formation, and both could be proposed as biomarkers for the progression of atherosclerotic disease. Levels of circulating anti-Hsp60 antibodies may constitute a marker of inflammation in atherosclerosis.