Circulating neuregulin-1β levels vary according to the angiographic severity of coronary artery disease and ischemia.
BACKGROUND
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading killer in the United States. Patients with severe CAD and ischemia have worse prognosis. Therefore expansion of biomarker research, to identify at-risk individuals and explain the complex biology between cardiovascular growth factors and atherosclerosis is needed. Neuregulin-1β (NRG-1β) is a myocardial stress activated growth and survival factor released from endocardial and endothelial cells. NRG-1β is essential for cardiovascular development and a regulator of angiogenesis. We postulated that plasma and serum levels of NRG-1β would vary in relation to CAD severity and the presence of stress-induced ischemia.


METHODS
We measured serum and plasma levels of NRG-1β and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in 60 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. CAD severity was calculated from angiographic results using a modified Duke jeopardy score.


RESULTS
Serum NRG-1β (sNRG-1β), plasma NRG-1β (pNRG-1β), serum VEGF, and plasma VEGF were detectable in the majority of patients. The pNRG-1β levels were approximately two-fold higher than sNRG-1β. Both sNRG-1β and pNRG-1β correlated inversely with CAD severity. pNRG-1β levels were statistically higher in patients with stress-induced ischemia denoted by a positive myocardial perfusion imaging study that correlated with angiographic findings (P=0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Both sNRG-1β and pNRG-1β correlated inversely with angiographic severity of CAD. pNRG-1β levels were two-fold higher than serum and were higher in patients with stress-induced ischemia. Therefore we conclude that plasma is the optimal source for the further exploration of the biological significance of NRG-1β as a biomarker of CAD severity and ischemia.
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA. carrie.geisberg@vanderbilt.edu
Carrie Anna
CA
Geisberg
Guisong
G
Wang
Radwan N
RN
Safa
Holly M
HM
Smith
Brent
B
Anderson
Xu-Yang
XY
Peng
Brian
B
Veerkamp
David X
DX
Zhao
Dana
D
Blakemore
Chang
C
Yu
Douglas B
DB
Sawyer
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D020890:Neuregulin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013714:Tennessee; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood
D015415:Biomarkers; D020890:Neuregulin-1; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C117467:neuregulin beta