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Complement components and fibrinogen: correlations and association with previous myocardial infarction
A Muscari1, C Bozzoli, G Massarelli
1Istituto di Patologia Speciale Medica e Metodologia Clinica, Università di Bologna, Italia.
Insights
Serum complement levels, particularly C4, may indicate a hypercoagulable state and predict myocardial infarction. Further research is needed to confirm complement
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Immunology
- Hematology
Background:
- Serum complement levels predict myocardial infarction years before the event.
- The relationship between complement and hypercoagulable states requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if serum complement levels indicate a hypercoagulable state in patients with previous myocardial infarction.
- To assess specific complement and coagulation factors in relation to myocardial infarction.
Main Methods:
- Measured serum/plasma levels of C3, C4, C3a, C4a, C1 inactivator, antithrombin III, protein S, protein C, fibrinogen, and tissue plasminogen activator.
- Compared levels in 31 male patients (40-60 years) with previous myocardial infarction against 33 age-matched male controls.
Main Results:
- C3, C4, and fibrinogen showed correlation and association with previous myocardial infarction.
- Only C4 maintained a significant association in multivariate analysis.
- No significant differences were found in coagulation variables directly linked to the complement system between groups.
Conclusions:
- Complement components C3, C4, and fibrinogen are associated with previous myocardial infarction.
- C4 is a potential indicator of a hypercoagulable state in myocardial infarction.
- Further studies are warranted to elucidate the role of complement in myocardial infarction pathogenesis.
Abstract:
Serum complement levels have been found to be predictive of myocardial infarction up to 4 years before the acute event. To assess whether they are a marker of a hypercoagulable state, the serum or plasma levels of C3, C4, C3a, C4a, C1 inactivator, antithrombin III, protein S, protein C, fibrinogen and tissue plasminogen activator were measured in 31 patients with previous myocardial infarction and 33 controls (all males, 40-60 years old). C3, C4 and fibrinogen (which share the common characteristic of being acute phase proteins) were correlated and were associated with previous myocardial infarction, although this association persisted only for C4 in multivariate analysis. None of the coagulative variables directly involved in the complement system differed significantly in the two groups.