Abstract
Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a widely recognized marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. Emerging evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), such as ANRIL, may contribute to the development of vascular disease through their roles in inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. We conducted a prospective study involving 93 patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy. We assessed preoperative and postoperative levels of serum ANRIL and creatinine clearance using the Cockcroft-Gault and Jelliffe formulas. CIMT was measured via duplex ultrasound before surgery and six months postoperatively. We analyzed correlations between changes in ANRIL, renal clearance, and CIMT. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of these markers. Postoperative serum ANRIL levels decreased significantly and were positively associated with reductions in CIMT. Both pre- and postoperative ANRIL levels showed moderate predictive value for CIMT ≥ 1 mm, with an AUC of 0.72 (95% CI 0.61-0.82). Creatinine clearance, calculated by either method, showed lower diagnostic accuracy. This study highlights the potential role of serum lncRNA ANRIL as a biomarker of early vascular improvement following metabolic surgery. Its association with CIMT suggests a link between adipose tissue remodeling and subclinical atherosclerosis regression. However, given CIMT's moderate predictive value, these findings should be considered exploratory. Further research is needed to determine ANRIL's clinical utility in cardiometabolic risk stratification.