title: Urotensin-II levels in acute coronary syndromes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Urotensin-II (U-II) is a vasoactive peptide with diffuse expression in human cardiomyocyte and vascular smooth muscle cells. Recent studies have reported increased plasma levels of U-II in patients with congestive heart failure.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine the plasma levels of U-II in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively measured plasma U-II levels in 54 patients with ACS, 51 patients with stable coronary disease and 29 healthy volunteers. Monoclonal antibodies against U-II were generated and plasma U-II levels were determined by radioimmunoassay from extracted venous samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ACS patients had significantly lower levels than patients with stable CAD and healthy controls (2.53+/-1.62 vs. 3.45+/-2.53 vs. 3.3+/-3.9 ng/ml, p=0.008, respectively). In both ACS and stable CAD patients, we found a negative relationship between plasma U-II levels and systemic arterial pressures. The correlation coefficients for systolic and mean arterial pressure were -0.272, p=0.006 and -0.209, p=0.04, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma U-II levels were significantly decreased in patients with acute coronary syndromes and related negatively to systemic arterial pressures. This finding suggests a down-regulation of U-II expression in patients with acute coronary syndromes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Urotensin-II (U-II) is a vasoactive peptide with diffuse staining in human cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells. We measured plasma U-II levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and healthy controls. We observed lower U-II levels in ACS patients and a negative correlation between U-II levels and systemic arterial pressure. This finding suggests a down-regulation of U-II expression in patients with ACS.
authors.affiliation: McGill University Health Center, Montreal General Hospital, Division of Cardiology, E-5-200, 1650 avenue Cedar, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1A4.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Joyal
authors.forename: Thao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.forename: Nambi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aiyar
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guida
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.forename: Adel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giaid
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013577:Syndrome; D014579:Urotensins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D014579:Urotensins; C029677:urotensin II