[A correlation study of adhesion molecule CD146 and the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque]

To investigate the correlation between the expression of adhesion molecule CD146 and the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque.

The plaque samples were collected from 40 patients who underwent the carotid endarterectomy and were divided into the stable plaque group and the instable plaque group by ultrasound imaging. Five carotid artery samples were taken from the healthy donors as the control. Immunohistochemistry was applied to test the CD146 expression in all samples.

Higher expression of CD146 was observed in the atherosclerotic plaques than in the healthy control. Moreover, statistical difference was found in the expression of CD146 in the plaques between the instable plaque group and the stable plaque group (0.31 ± 0.19 vs 0.17 ± 0.07, P < 0.05). The expression of CD146 was positively correlated with the necrotic area (r = 0.471 8, P = 0.019 9) and the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 expression in the plaques (r = 0.535 6, P = 0.000 9).

The CD146 expression is correlated with the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque.