title: Correlations between coronary plaque tissue composition assessed by virtual histology and blood levels of biomarkers for coronary artery disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated correlations of coronary plaque composition determined by virtual histology (VH) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and blood levels of biomarkers that represent the vulnerability of coronary plaques.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre- and postprocedural blood levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein, soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), matrix metalloproteinase-9, and neopterin were measured in 70 patients with stable angina (SA) or unstable angina (UA) who were undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for single lesions. We evaluated the data for correlations between these biomarkers and necrotic core contents in PCI target lesions analyzed by VH.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinical characteristics, IVUS, VH, and biomarker blood levels were not different between the SA and the UA group except for more frequent previous statin use (52.3% vs. 23.1%, p=0.017) and lower remodeling index in the SA group (0.98±0.09 vs. 1.10±0.070, p<0.001). Among the biomarkers evaluated, only pre-PCI neopterin level showed a weakly significant correlation with the absolute volume of the necrotic core (r=0.320, p=0.008). Pre- and post-PCI blood levels of sCD40L (r=0.220, p=0.072; r=0.231, p=0.062) and post-PCI blood level of neopterin (r=0.238, p=0.051) showed trends toward weakly positive correlations with the absolute volume of necrotic core.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found a weakly positive correlation between the pre-PCI neopterin level and necrotic core volume in the PCI-target lesion. The clinical implications of our findings need to be investigated in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Severance Cardiovascular Hospital & Severance Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Guk
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Van Cuong
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: Bo Hyun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong-Ho
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jung-Sun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byeong-Keuk
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Donghoon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Yangsoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Myeong-Ki
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000097:blood; D060050:Angina, Stable / Q000097:blood; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000097:blood; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin / Q000097:blood; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D023201:CD40 Ligand; D019798:Neopterin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9