Upregulation of vascular extracellular superoxide dismutase in patients with acute coronary syndromes.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the vascular expression levels of extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD), a major antioxidant enzyme in the cardiovascular system, in patients with acute coronary syndromes.


RESULTS
Twenty-one consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 14 patients with unstable angina, 11 patients with stable angina, and 20 control subjects were studied. The levels of vascular EC-SOD expression were assessed by the difference in plasma EC-SOD concentrations before and after intravenous heparan injection. In the patients with AMI, vascular EC-SOD expression (ng/mL) was significantly higher on day 1 after the onset of AMI (148+/-10) as compared with the control subjects (116+/-6, P<0.05). The vascular EC-SOD expression returned to the normal range on day 7 (104+/-8), and that level persisted thereafter. The vascular EC-SOD expression was also significantly higher in the patients with unstable angina (160+/-13) than in those with stable angina (122+/-10) or in the controls (116+/-6) (P<0.05 each). Moreover, in the patients with AMI, higher levels of vascular EC-SOD expression on day 1 were significantly associated with smaller myocardial infarct size (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first clinical demonstration showing that vascular EC-SOD may be upregulated in acute coronary syndromes in humans in vivo. EC-SOD may play an important protective role against increased oxidative stress during acute ischemic coronary events.
Second Department of Internal Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
Masataka
M
Horiuchi
Masato
M
Tsutsui
Hiromi
H
Tasaki
Tsuyoshi
T
Morishita
Osamu
O
Suda
Sei
S
Nakata
Shun-ichi
S
Nihei
Masaharu
M
Miyamoto
Ryoji
R
Kouzuma
Masahiro
M
Okazaki
Nobuyuki
N
Yanagihara
Tetsuo
T
Adachi
Yasuhide
Y
Nakashima
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000628:therapy; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D005260:Female; D006497:Heparan Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000201:enzymology*; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics
D006497:Heparan Sulfate; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; C441642:SOD3 protein, human