• Ilknur Balta, Sevket Balta, Ozgul Mustu Koryurek, Sait Demirkol, Dimitri P Mikhailidis, Turgay Celik, Mustafa Cakar, Ugur Kucuk, Meral Eksioglu, and Yasemin Gulcan Kurt.
• Department of Dermatology, Kecioren Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
• J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 2014 Feb 1; 70 (2): 291-6.

BackgroundEndocan is a novel human endothelial cell-specific molecule. The central role of leukocytes and endothelial dysfunction in the development of Behçet disease (BD) led us to hypothesize that endocan might be a marker of this disease.ObjectiveWe investigated the relationship between serum levels of endocan and disease activity in patients with BD.MethodsIn all, 33 patients (16 active, 17 inactive) with BD and 35 healthy persons were included in the study. Endocan and C-reactive protein were measured in all subjects.ResultsPatients with BD had significantly higher serum endocan levels. Mean serum levels of endocan were 1.29 ± 0.60 ng/mL (range: 0.58-2.99) in patients with BD and 0.75 ± 0.16 ng/mL (range: 0.48-1.21) in control subjects (P < .001). In patients with BD, serum endocan levels correlated moderately but significantly with C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and disease activity. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis suggested that the optimum endocan level cut-off point for patients with BD was 0.87 ng/mL, with a sensitivity and specificity of 75.8% and 80%, respectively (area under curve 0.835, 95% confidence interval 0.738-0.932).LimitationsThe main limitation of our study is the relatively small sample size.ConclusionsCirculating endocan may be a marker of BD activity.Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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