title: Differential leucocyte RNA expression in the coronary arteries compared to systemic circulation discriminates between patients with and those without coronary artery disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that the pattern of gene expression in circulating leukocytes may differ between vascular compartments, depending on the presence or absence of atherosclerosis, we evaluated the regional vascular differences in patterns of inflammatory cell activation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients (n=8) with angiographically-established coronary artery disease (CAD+) and 8 without (CAD-) had blood samples taken from a peripheral vein as well as from left and right coronary arteries. Samples were pooled resulting in 4 CAD+ samples versus 4 CAD- samples and hybridised to a Whole Human Genome Microarray 4×44K.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CAD- patients had a similar gene expression profile across the different sites. CAD+ patients had statistically significant different gene expression patterns in venous vs. right and left coronary artery compartments. The expression pattern observed in the right coronary was where the most differences in gene expression were observed in CAD+ vs. CAD- patients. Overall, 1964 genes were differentially expressed between CAD+ and CAD-. Of these, 1052 were less expressed in CAD+ and 912 were more expressed in CAD+. Up to 12 of the 20 most differentially expressed genes appeared to reflect different phases of the atherosclerosis process: endothelial dysfunction, lipid accumulation, and smooth muscle cell proliferation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gene expression of circulating leukocytes differentiates CAD+ from CAD- patients. Gene expression is significantly different between coronary arteries and the systemic circulation in CAD+ patients, but not in CAD- patients. Gene expression is significantly different between CAD+ and CAD- subjects, and appears to reflect the atherosclerosis process. These intra-individual differences may be an additional feature of established coronary artery disease.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Lípids i Arteriosclerosi, Facultat de Medicina, Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, CIBERDEM, Reus, Spain. Electronic address: josep.ribalta@urv.cat.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribalta
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Centre for Diabetes and Vascular Medicine, St Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alipour
authors.affiliation: Genomics Unit, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Fátima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Cabo
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Lípids i Arteriosclerosi, Facultat de Medicina, Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, CIBERDEM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan-Carles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Vallvé
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, St Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tjin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Njo
authors.affiliation: Genomics Unit, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, St Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St. Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anho
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liem
authors.affiliation: Genomics Unit, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dopazo
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Centre for Diabetes and Vascular Medicine, St Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castro-Cabezas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000473:pathology; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012313:RNA
keywords: Array; Arterias coronarias; Aterosclerosis; Atherosclerosis; Coronary arteries; Expresión de ARN; RNA expression