Abstract 1191: Elevated Concentration of Pentraxin 3 is Associated With Coronary Plaque Vulnerability

Abstract

Background: Inflammation is a critical contributing factor to the development and the progression of atherosclerosis. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), which has C-terminal sequence homology with the classic pentraxin C-reactive protein (CRP), is produced abundantly from atherosclerotic lesion while CRP is mainly produced in the liver. In this study, we investigated whether plasma level of PTX3 might be a sensitive marker for the severity of coronary artery disease by coronary angiography and vulnerable plaque by multidedector-row CT. Methods: We measured the concentration of PTX3 in peripheral and coronary sinus plasma of 36 patients with angina pectoris (AP) and 18 control subjects who had no coronary artery stenosis on angiography. Then, we determined the correlation between the plasma PTX3 concentration and the Gensini score as an index of severity of coronary atherosclerosis or the CT density of plaque as a quantitative index of plaque vulnerability. The plasma concentration of PTX3 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: There was no significant difference of PTX3 concentrations in peripheral and coronary sinus plasma between patients with AP and control subjects (peripheral plasma, 2.6±1.1 vs 2.0±0.8 ng/ml; coronary sinus plasma, 2.8±1.2 vs 2.0±0.8 ng/ml). The concentration of PTX3 in coronary sinus but not peripheral plasma correlated with Gensini score (r=0.47, p<0.05 and r=0.34, NS, respectively). Interestingly, there was significantly negative correlation between plasma PTX3 concentration and the CT density (r=−0.71, p<0.01). On the other hand, plasma high-sensitive CRP concentration was not correlated with the CT density. Conclusion: PTX3 might reflect coronary plaque vulnerability that leads to plaque rupture more specifically than CRP.