title: Association between peripheral blood cells mitochondrial DNA content and severity of coronary heart disease.
abstract: Leukocyte mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content reflects the oxidant-induced cell damage, which has been observed in a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. However, whether it correlates with coronary heart disease (CHD), which closely relates to oxidative stress, has never been elucidated before. The aim of this study was to explore association between mtDNA content and the presence and severity of CHD.
  
  
  
  The study population consisted of 400 individuals (290 with CHD and 110 controls). A quantitative real-time PCR was performed to measure the relative content of mtDNA in peripheral blood cells (PBCs). Gensini score was used to evaluate the severity of coronary stenotic lesions. An unconditional multivariate logistic regression was developed to estimate the association between CHD risk and mtDNA content by using odds ratio (OR). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02500823.
  
  
  
  CHD patients, compared to controls, had lower mtDNA content (median, 0.78 vs. 0.83, p < 0.001), and mtDNA levels significantly decreased following an increasing Gensini score (p < 0.001). By using the first (highest mtDNA content) quartile of mtDNA content of controls as reference, the adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for individuals in the second, third and highest quartile of mtDNA content were 1.78 (95% CI, 1.15-3.51), 2.21 (95% CI, 1.65-3.74) and 4.83 (95% CI, 2.67-8.64), respectively (p for trend <0.001).
  
  
  
  These preliminary results suggest that expression of mtDNA may be associated with atherogenesis. The level of peripheral blood mtDNA in predicting the severity of coronary atherosclerosis may have a relatively certain value.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Li-Peng
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Third Hospital of Xi'an, 710082, China.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, First Hospital of Xi'an, 710002, China.
authors.forename: Ming-An
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, 61906 Force, Langfang 065001, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Hong
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The 323th Hospital of PLA, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Fa-Lin
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China. Electronic address: wenyi_guo@126.com.
authors.forename: Wen-Yi
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Coronary heart disease; Mitochondrial DNA content; Peripheral blood cells; Severity