{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T07:12:10Z","timestamp":1783062730770,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]],"date-time":"2026-02-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770854400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004826","name":"Beijing Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["7222047"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7222047"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004826","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014764","name":"China International Medical Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["Z-2014-07-2101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Z-2014-07-2101"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014764","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a well-established inflammatory biomarker with significant implications in the pathogenesis and prognostic assessment of cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to investigate the potential value of serum PTX3 as a circulating biomarker when combined with the high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI) for identifying carotid vulnerable plaque (CVP) and its specific vulnerable features. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study enrolled 86 patients with carotid atherosclerosis who underwent HR-VWI. Patients were classified into CVP and non-carotid vulnerable plaque (NCVP) groups, and CVP was divided into unilateral carotid vulnerable plaque (UCVP) and bilateral carotid vulnerable plaque (BCVP). CVP was defined as meeting \u2265 1 major criteria: lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) maximum area percentage &gt; 40% combined with thin fibrous cap (FC), intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), FC discontinuity, and focal inflammation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified factors influencing CVP and the formation of specific vulnerable features. Results: Serum PTX3 levels progressively increased across the NCVP, UCVP, and BCVP groups (median 638.23, 858.52, 1113.62 pg\/mL; p &lt; 0.001). PTX3 independently predicted the presence of CVP (OR = 2.88; 95% CI: 1.16\u20138.91; p = 0.039) and specific vulnerable features, including FC discontinuity (OR = 2.47; 95% CI: 1.32\u20134.63; p = 0.005) and focal inflammation (OR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.18\u20134.32; p = 0.014) with high diagnostic performance for these conditions. PTX3 levels exhibited a moderate positive correlation with the number of vulnerable features (r = 0.610, p &lt; 0.01). Conclusions: Elevated serum PTX3 levels were significantly associated with HR-VWI-defined carotid plaque vulnerability and its severity, serving as a reliable circulating biomarker for identifying FC discontinuity and focal inflammation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15041452","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]],"date-time":"2026-02-12T14:06:16Z","timestamp":1770905176000},"page":"1452","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Serum PTX3 Levels Correlate with Fibrous Cap Discontinuity and Focal Inflammation in Carotid Vulnerable Plaque: A High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Vessel Wall Imaging Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-6149-3852","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tingting","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, 2 Anzhen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, 2 Anzhen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qingyuan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Vascular Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, 2 Anzhen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yumeng","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, 2 Anzhen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianxiu","family":"Lian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Philips Healthcare, Beijing 100006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, 2 Anzhen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1715","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcmg.2022.04.003","article-title":"Carotid Plaque Characteristics Predict Recurrent Ischemic Stroke and TIA: The PARISK (Plaque At RISK) Study","volume":"15","author":"Truijman","year":"2022","journal-title":"JACC Cardiovasc. 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