Serum pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A levels in a cohort with cardiovascular disease (1158.2)

Abstract

Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who have high serum levels of pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A (PAPP‐A) are at increased risk of cardiac events. PAPP‐A levels have been reported to indicate elevated risk in ACS patients who were troponin I‐negative. The long range goal is to assess changes in PAPP‐A levels in a longitudinal study of subjects diagnosed with cardiovascular disease to further test the validity of serum levels of PAPP‐A as a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events. Initial serum levels of PAPP‐A were measured in a cohort of 243 subjects to establish the reference range for the cohort. Serum PAPP‐A levels were measured using a commercial sandwich type immunoassay using dual wavelength colorimetric detection. Serum PAPP‐A levels ranged from 0.43 to 4.2 ng/ml with geometric mean and 95% CI of 0.95 (0.87 ‐ 0.97) ng/ml. A correction factor of 2.7 international units/ng PAPP‐A was used to calculate the reference range in mIU/L (0.4 ‐ 11). Median values of serum PAPP‐A did not vary significantly with gender or race, nor were there significant correlations with increasing age, mean arterial blood pressure or total cholesterol. Although PAPP‐A levels did not correlate with these known cardiovascular risk factors in this cross‐sectional analysis the data do provide a reference range of the cohort that is similar to published reports of PAPP‐A levels in subjects at other clinical centers.Grant Funding Source: Supported by grant P20MD0002314‐06 from NIMHD