Expression analysis of intercellular adhesion molecule-2 (ICAM-2) in the context of classical cardiovascular risk factors in acute coronary syndrome patients.
BACKGROUND
Cardiopulmonary diseases are the most common cause of hospitalization and death. Often the basic problem is endothelial dysfunction leading to elevated expression of adhesion proteins as well as increased adhesion and aggregation of blood cells. The goal of the study was to assess expression level of intercellular adhesive molecule-2 (ICAM-2) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).


METHODS
The obtained data were analysed in the context of the occurrence of classical cardiovascular risk factors. The two studied groups consisted of 60 ACS patients and 20 healthy individuals who both were qualified based on electrocardiography (ECG), transthoracic echocardiography and biochemical tests. The ACS patients additionally had coronary angiography performed. The number of ICAM-2 gene mRNA molecules was evaluated on the basis of QRT-PCR reaction kinetics. To compare the results the Mann-Whitney U test was used. Results were judged statistically significant if p < 0.05.


RESULTS
Analysis of the results showed a significantly higher number of ICAM-2 gene mRNA copies in ACS patients compared to healthy subjects (140920 ±105207 and 15023 ±14325, respectively). Furthermore, our results indicate a correlation between obesity (p = 0.012) and positive burdening family history (p = 0.041) and increased ICAM-2 levels in patients with ACS.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased ICAM-2 gene expression in ACS patients is probably symptomatic of endothelium dysfunction and may be responsible for intensified adhesion and aggregation processes as well as for appearance of acute coronary syndrome. These results indicate a correlation between obesity and burdening family history on the one hand, and increased ICAM-2 levels in patients with ACS, on the other.
Department of Epidemiology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Joanna
J
Głogowska-Ligus
Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Józefa
J
Dąbek
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Elżbieta
E
Zych-Twardowska
Institute of Computer Science, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Magdalena
M
Tkacz
adhesion molecule; aggregation; obesity