Elevated plasma osteopontin levels were associated with osteopontin expression of CD4+ T cells in patients with unstable angina.
BACKGROUND
Plaque instability in patients with unstable angina (UA) is associated with stimulated CD4+ T cells, so the present study investigated whether there is a relationship among plaque instability, osteopontin and CD4+ T cells.


RESULTS
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 51 consecutive patients with UA, 60 patients with stable angina (SA), and 39 patients with chest pain syndrome (CPS). Osteopontin-producing CD4+ T cells were quantified by flow cytometry. Plasma osteopontin levels (ng/ml) were measured by ELISA and were higher in patients with UA (792.0 +/- 316.7) than in those with SA (626.0 +/- 195.0, p < 0.005) or CPS (594.7 +/- 239.4, p < 0.005). The frequency (%) of osteopontin-producing CD4+ T cells was higher in patients with UA (26.7 +/- 13.3) than in those with SA (19.5 +/- 11.1, p < 0.05) or CPS (16.6 +/- 9.0, p < 0.005). Furthermore, the plasma osteopontin level correlated with the frequency of osteopontin-producing CD4+ T cells (r = 0.327, p = 0.0004), as did the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level (r = 0.360, p = 0.0002).


CONCLUSIONS
The plasma osteopontin levels are elevated in patients with UA, accompanied by an increase in the number of osteopontin-production of circulating CD4+ T cells. Circulating CD4+ T cells may play a role through osteopontin in the pathophysiology of UA.
Soejima
Hirofumi
H
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Japan. yuuki@gpo.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
Irie
Atsushi
A
Fukunaga
Takashi
T
Sugamura
Koichi
K
Kojima
Sunao
S
Sakamoto
Tomohiro
T
Yoshimura
Michihiro
M
Kishikawa
Hideki
H
Nishimura
Yasuharu
Y
Ogawa
Hisao
H
D000368:Aged; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053495:Osteopontin; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins / Q000097:blood*
C506895:SPP1 protein, human; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins; D053495:Osteopontin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein