title: Cardiac isoform of alpha 2 macroglobulin and its reliability as a cardiac marker in HIV patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiac isoform of alpha 2 macroglobulin (CA2M), a serum protein (182000Mr) has been used as a diagnostic molecular marker for cardiac manifestations in HIV and diabetic patients. This study investigates the reliability of CA2M as an early diagnostic marker for cardiac manifestations in HIV patients and factors that could possibly influence their levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 206 serum samples were analysed from HIV patients with cardiac diseases (68), with non-cardiac ailments (48), opportunistic infections (34) and without other co-morbidities (56). The immuno-cross-reactivity between human serum CA2M and anti-rat CA2M antibody was tested and quantified by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CA2M levels were high in HIV patients with cardiac diseases irrespective of the manifestations. The CA2M levels were not influenced by opportunistic infections, non-cardiac ailments and patient parameters like age, sex, duration of illness, past history of other co-morbidities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CA2M can be used as a reliable early diagnostic marker in HIV patients with cardiac manifestations. CA2M levels were not influenced by other patient parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Ramasamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Subbiah
authors.forename: Vipindas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chengat
authors.forename: Justin D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Clifton
authors.forename: Andiappan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rathinavel
authors.forename: Aurelian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bidulescu
authors.forename: Ramprasath
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tharmarajan
authors.forename: Govindan Sadasivam
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Selvam
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000150:complications*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D051381:Rats; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins