Correlation between plasma levels of selenium and antithrombin-III.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Nutritional Biochemistry
• Hematology

Background:

• Previous myocardial infarction (MI) patients present unique physiological markers.
• Antithrombin-III (AT-III) and selenium are investigated for their roles in cardiovascular health.
• Understanding biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is crucial for risk stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between antithrombin-III (AT-III) activity, plasma selenium levels, and previous myocardial infarction.
• To identify key discriminatory factors between patients with previous MI and healthy controls.
• To explore the potential role of selenium as a determinant in cardiovascular disease.

Main Methods:

• Plasma AT-III activity and selenium levels were measured in patients with previous MI and age/sex-matched healthy controls.
• Correlation analyses were performed between AT-III and selenium levels.
• Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the discriminatory power of various biomarkers, including triglycerides, AT-III, and selenium.

Main Results:

• A positive correlation was observed between AT-III and selenium levels in both patients and controls (r = 0.27, p = 0.015).
• After adjusting for AT-III, selenium showed a significant negative correlation with disease presence.
• Serum triglycerides demonstrated the highest discriminatory ability (r2 = 0.169), followed by AT-III (r2 = 0.072) and selenium (r2 = 0.056).
• Increased AT-III levels correlated with warfarin and beta-blocker use, but these did not explain lower selenium levels in patients.

Conclusions:

• Lower selenium levels are significantly associated with previous myocardial infarction, independent of AT-III levels.
• While AT-III and selenium are correlated, serum triglycerides are the strongest discriminator for previous MI in this cohort.
• These findings support the hypothesis that selenium plays a role in cardiovascular disease, warranting further investigation into the AT-III and selenium relationship.