Relationship Between Plasma Levels of Soluble CD40 Ligand and the Presence and Severity of Isolated Coronary Artery Ectasia.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate whether soluble CD40 ligand (CD40L) levels are higher in patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia (CAE) compared to patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries and those with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all, 55 patients with isolated CAE without stenosis, 55 with stable CAD, and 55 control participants with angiographically normal coronary arteries were included. The CAE severity was determined according to the Markis classification. Plasma levels of soluble CD40 ligand were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The baseline characteristics of the 3 groups were similar. Plasma levels of soluble CD40 ligand were significantly higher in patients with CAE and CAD than in controls (2.6 ± 3.1 ng/mL and 2.0 ± 3.1 ng/mL vs 1.8 ± 2.1 ng/mL, P = .004). No difference was found between the CAE and CAD groups. Soluble CD40 ligand level was significantly higher in the type 1 Markis subgroup than that in the type 3 or type 4 subgroups ( P = .01). A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that soluble CD40 ligand level >1.2 ng/mL identified patients with isolated CAE. CONCLUSION: Significantly higher levels of soluble CD40 ligand were detected in patients with CAE than that in control participants with normal coronary arteries, suggesting that soluble CD40 ligand may be involved in the pathogenesis of CAE. The CD40-CD40 ligand system likely plays a role in the pathogenesis of CAE.

The correlation between plasma human neutrophil peptide 1-3 levels and severity of coronary artery disease.

INTRODUCTION: Inflammation plays a key role in atherosclerosis, and discovering new biomarkers of inflammation is becoming important in order to uncover the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD). Recent studies have focused on polymorphonuclear neutrophils. It has been suggested that human neutrophil peptide 1-3 (HNP1-3) is proatherogenic. In this study, we aimed to investigate the associations between plasma HNP1-3 levels and the severity of atherosclerosis via a generally accepted scoring system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational study included 107 consecutive patients suffering from stable angina pectoris and undergoing coronary angiography (CAG). Patients were divided into two groups according to the Gensini scoring (GS) system evaluating disease severity. Group 1 was composed of mild CAD patients with GS < 20 and group 2 consisted of severe CAD patients with GS ≥ 20. Plasma HNP1-3 levels were assessed by the ELISA method. RESULTS: The mean HNP1-3 levels were found to be lower in group 1 than group 2 (134.7 ng/ml vs. 147.5 ng/ml). HNP1-3 levels were significantly higher in the severe CAD group than the mild CAD group according to GS (p < 0.001). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that only age > 62 years and HNP1-3 > 134 ng/ml were independent predictors of the severity of CAD after adjusting for gender, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, family history of CAD and white blood cell count. In predicting the severity of CAD, the sensitivity and specificity of HNP1-3 were 83.9% (p < 0.001) and 58.8% (p < 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the plasma levels of HNP1-3 were significantly higher in severe CAD than mild CAD.

The relationship between epicardial adipose tissue thickness and oxidative stress parameters in patients with isolated polycystic ovary syndrome.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation between epicardial adipose tissue thickness and oxidative stress parameters in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. METHODS: The study included 35 patients with PCOS and 35 healthy women. Transthoracic echocardiography was used to measure the epicardial adipose tissue thickness (EATT) of all patients. For all patients, serum TOS, TAS, hs-CRP, and insulin levels were measured according to the literature, and the HOMA-IR values were calculated. Independent samples t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis, multivariate logistic regression analysis, and receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis were used in the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Between the patient group and the control group, EATT was significantly higher in the PCOS group compared to the control group (5.4 ± 1.4 mm and 3.9 ± 1.6 mm, respectively; p < 0.001). Similarly, TOS, TAS, and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in the PCOS group compared to the control group (p < 0.01 for all). The correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between EATT and TAS and hs-CRP (r = 0.349, p < 0.01 and r = 0.352, p < 0.01, respectively). Multivariate regression analysis showed a significant correlation between PCOS and EATT, TAS, and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Epicardial adipose tissue may play a major role in PCOS pathogenesis by leading to an increase in oxidative stress.