Soluble E-selectin is not a marker of unstable coronary plaque in serum of patients with ischemic heart disease.
Increased level of soluble cell adhesion molecules may be a marker for atherosclerosis and/or reflect complication of the atherosclerotic plaque. To test whether expression of cell adhesion molecules is more pronounced in unstable versus stable coronary plaques, we measured the serum level of soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) in 99 consecutive patients admitted to the hospital for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and in 61 patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) using a commercially available ELISA kit. We also measured the sE-selectin concentration in 20 sex- and age-matched subjects without clinical evidence of atherosclerosis, who served as controls. The mean sE-selectin level was higher in both groups of patients compared with controls (ACS, 35.0 +/- 23.4 ng/mL; chronic CAD, 32.9 +/- 21.0 ng/mL; controls, 14.5 +/- 6.6 ng/mL; one-way ANOVA, P = 0.001), but there was no difference between patients with ACS and chronic CAD. Furthermore, there was a trend (P = 0.08) toward a decrease in sE-selectin with an increase in the extent and severity of CAD. In patients with ACS, the in-hospital cardiac event rate was 8%. Although mean sE-selectin concentration tended to be higher in patients with (49.2 +/- 42.1 ng/mL) than in those without (33.8 +/- 21.3 ng/mL) in-hospital cardiac events, the difference was not significant. In 53 patients with ACS, C-reactive protein was measured and showed no correlation with the sE-selectin concentration. These findings show that although sE-selectin concentration is elevated in the presence of clinically relevant atherosclerosis, it does not further increase during the unstable phase of the disease, indicating that sE-selectin is not a reliable indicator of a complicated atherosclerotic plaque.
Galvani
M
M
Cardiovascular Research Unit of the Fondazione Cardiologica "Myriam Zito Sacco," Forlì, Italy. sacco@mbox.queen.it
Ferrini
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D
Ottani
F
F
Nanni
C
C
Ramberti
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A
Amboni
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Iamele
L
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Vernocchi
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Nicolini
F A
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D000368:Aged; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000097:blood; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D019040:E-Selectin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood*; D012995:Solubility
D015415:Biomarkers; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D019040:E-Selectin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein