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Published on: April 19, 2011
Role of autophagy in the progress of coronary total occlusion
Insights
Autophagy levels are elevated in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and correlate with disease severity. This suggests autophagy may be a marker for the inflammatory process in CAD.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Cellular Biology
Background:
- Coronary artery disease (CAD) involves complex inflammatory processes.
- Autophagy, a cellular degradation process, is implicated in various cardiovascular conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To measure autophagy enzyme levels in patients with CAD.
- To investigate the role of autophagy in coronary collateral formation and total occlusion (TO).
Main Methods:
- Studied 115 participants divided into chronic TO, acute TO (myocardial infarction), and control groups.
- Measured plasma autophagy-related protein 5 (ATG5) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Main Results:
- Autophagy levels were significantly higher in CAD patients (chronic and acute TO) compared to controls (p<0.001).
- A significant positive correlation was found between autophagy levels and Rentrop score in patients with chronic TO (r=0.463, p<0.001).
Conclusions:
- Elevated autophagy levels are present in patients with CAD.
- Serum autophagy levels correlate with coronary collateralization, suggesting a role in atherosclerotic inflammation.
Objective:
In this study, we measured the level of autophagy enzyme in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and investigated whether the role of autophagy existed in the progress of coronary collateral and coronary total occlusion (TO).
Methods:
Overall, 115 participants were included in this study. They were divided into the three groups: group 1: patients had chronic TO (n=49); group 2: patients had acute TO such as myocardial infarction (n=36); and group 3: participants were normal controls (n=30). The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for autophagy-related protein 5 (ATG5) in the plasma was studied for these three groups.
Results:
Autophagy levels were significantly different between the groups (13.7±5.3, 11.7±3.4, and 7.5±3 ng/mL, respectively; p<0.001). In the subgroup analysis, we found significant positive correlations between the level of autophagy and Rentrop score in the Group 1 (r=0.463, p<0.001).
Conclusion:
In the present study, autophagy levels were higher in the patients with CAD than in healthy controls. In addition, serum autophagy levels showed a significant positive correlation with the Rentrop score. An increased autophagy level may be considered an important activator and marker of the atherosclerotic inflammatory process in CAD (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 20).
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