title: Apelin Levels In Isolated Coronary Artery Ectasia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The etiopathogenesis of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is not known completely. In most of the cases, CAE is associated with atherosclerosis; however, isolated CAE has a nonatherosclerotic mechanism. The association between atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and apelin has been examined in previous studies. However, the role of plasma apelin in isolated coronary artery ectasia has not been studied. In this study, we investigated the relationship between plasma apelin levels and isolated coronary artery ectasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population included a total of 54 patients. Twenty-six patients had isolated CAE (53.6±8.1 years); 28 patients with normal coronary arteries (51.6±8.8 years) and with similar risk factors and demographic characteristics served as the control group. Apelin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunoassay kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Apelin level in the CAE group was significantly lower (apelin=0.181±0.159 ng/mL) than that in the control group (apelin=0.646±0.578 ng/mL) (p=0.033). Glucose, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were not significantly different between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, we showed that patients with isolated CAE have decreased plasma apelin levels compared with the control group. Based on the data, a relationship between plasma apelin and isolated CAE was determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Zihni
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Bilik
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: İbrahim
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdulkadir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yıldız
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Ata
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Akıl
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Halit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Acet
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yüksel
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nihat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oylumlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ertaș
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sait
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alan
keywords: Apelin protein, human; Coronary artery disease; Dilatation, pathologic; Inflammation