A Study on the Relationship between Serum Beta 2-Microglobulin Levels, Underlying Chronic Kidney Disease, and Peripheral Arterial Disease in High-Vascular-Risk Patients

Background: Serum beta 2-microglobulin (B2M) levels have been found to be increased
in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), yet it is still unknown whether B2M
correlates with PAD intensity.
Objectives: We aim to evaluate the correlation between B2M and the ankle-brachial index
(ABI) values in high-vascular-risk patients.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 63 high-vascular-risk patients admitted to the
Cardiology Department or evaluated as outpatients in the Internal Medicine Department
of our institution. Patients were classified into two groups according to their ABI: patients
without PAD (n = 44, ABI values between 0.9 and 1.4) and patients with PAD (n = 19,
ABI values lower than 0.9 or higher than 1.4). We performed univariate and multivariate
analysis based on a multiple linear regression model.
Results: Serum B2M levels were higher in patients with pathological ABI values than in
those without PAD (2.36 ± 1.13 vs. 1.80 ± 0.65 mg/L; P<0.05). We found no correlation
between B2M and ABI in our total population (r = –0.12) or in patients with PAD (r =
–0.09; NS for both comparisons). Age, gender, arterial hypertension, estimated glomerular
filtration rate (eGFR), uric acid, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol correlated with
B2M in the univariate analysis. In the final linear regression model, eGFR, uric acid and
total cholesterol correlated independently with B2M (P<0.01).
Conclusion: We found no correlation between B2M levels and ABI values in high-vascularrisk
patients that could usefully help in the subsequent diagnosis of PAD. However, we
observed a significant correlation between B2M and eGFR, even when renal function was
only slightly impaired.