Zyxin Gene Expression in Patients with Varying Degrees of Coronary Artery Disease

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains the leading cause of mortality in developed countries. Although recent advances have improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of ACS and its primary consequence, myocardial infarction, many questions remain regarding the molecular and cellular changes occurring during and after an infarction. This study aimed to evaluate the expression levels of the zyxin (ZYX) gene in patients with ACS, stable coronary artery disease (stable CAD), and healthy controls. RNA was extracted from PBMCs and analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Gene expression was measured using TaqMan Gene Expression Assays and the number of ZYX mRNA molecules was quantified based on qRT-PCR kinetics. Kruskal-Wallis was used to compare gene expression levels among the three groups. A significantly higher number of ZYX gene copies was observed in both the ACS and stable CAD groups than in healthy controls (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001, respectively). A statistically significant difference was also observed between the ACS and stable CAD groups (p = 0.004). The increased expression of zyxin observed in patients with ACS and stable CAD may reflect cellular repair mechanisms activated in response to myocardial injury.