title: Soluble CD40 ligand is associated with angiographic severity of coronary artery disease in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, studies have disclosed soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) during atherosclerosis development and plaque destabilization. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that sCD40L levels are higher in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with a greater extent of angiographic coronary involvement.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study examined ACS patients who underwent coronary angiography by measuring their sCD40L levels. In order to estimate the serum levels of sCD40L, 10 ml of peripheral venous blood was drawn within 24 hours of admission. sCD40L levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, RapidBio, West Hills, CA, USA). Demographic data, presence of concomitant diseases, ACS characteristics, and angiographic findings were evaluated. A review of medical records and patient interviews were conducted to assess coronary risk factors. And the severity of coronary artery disease was evaluated using the Gensini score index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and eighty-nine patients were included in the study, of whom 186 were male, with an average age of 64.1 ± 10.0 years. Median sCD40L levels were 1.7 ng/ml (0.3-7.3 ng/ml) and Gensini scores were 50 (0-228). After adjusting for demographic variables and cardiovascular risk factors, the Gensini score was associated with the natural logarithm of the sCD40L level (Coefficient b = 0.002, 95% CI 0.000-0.003, P = 0.029).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  sCD40L levels were independently associated with angiographic severity of coronary artery disease in patients with ACS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital; Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health; Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital; Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health; Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital; Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health; Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Zijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital; Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health; Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Haiyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital; Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health; Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Zongshi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital; Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health; Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100191, China. Email: weigao@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000097:blood*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D023201:CD40 Ligand