Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2013 June, 230(2)

Elevated Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Is Associated with Progression of Nonculprit Lesions after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

HUI XIN,¹ HUI-PING GONG,² SHANG-LANG CAI,¹ XIAN-FENG NING,¹ SONG LIU,¹ ZUO-YUAN CHEN,¹ ZHE-XUN LIAN,¹ RUI ZHANG,³ QUAN-FANG ZHANG,³ WEI-QIANG KANG⁴ and ZHI-MING GE⁵

¹Department of Cardiology, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China
²Department of Cardiology, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
³Department of ECG diagnosis, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China
⁴Department of Cardiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China
⁵Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA₂) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes oxidized phospholipids to generate bioactive proatherogenic products. Nonculprit lesions have been assumed to contribute to the pathogenesis of recurrent acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The role of LP-PLA₂ in the progression of nonculprit coronary lesions after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains unclear. Our study included 123 patients with ACS who underwent initial PCI and a long-term follow-up (mean interval, one year) with coronary angiography. Among them, 19 patients were diagnosed as the progression of nonculprit lesions, based on the presence of at least one of the following factors: (1) ≥ 10% reduction in the diameter of a preexisting ≥ 50% stenosis; (2) ≥ 30% reduction in the diameter of a < 50% stenosis; and (3) early-onset stenosis with ≥ 30% reduction in the diameter of a segment that was normal on the primary angiogram. Blood sampling was drawn from all patients at 12-14 hours after PCI. The ACS patients with progression had higher total cholesterol (4.47 ± 1.02 mmol/L vs. 3.59 ± 0.57 mmol/L, P < 0.05), higher levels of Lp-PLA₂ activity (14.39 ± 6.13 nmol/min/ml vs. 8.86 ± 3.14 nmol/min/ml, P < 0.001) and a higher proportion of multi-vessel disease than those without progression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Lp-PLA₂ activity (β = 0.024, P = 0.005) was an independent predictor for rapid progression of nonculprit coronary lesions. In conclusion, elevated Lp-PLA2 activity is associated with rapid progression of nonculprit coronary lesions in ACS patients who underwent PCI.

keywords —— acute coronary syndrome; atherosclerosis; lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2; nonculprit; percutaneous coronary intervention

© 2013 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2013, 230, 97-102

Correspondence: Hui Xin, Department of Cardiology, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, #16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266003, P.R. China.

e-mail: xhqy2002@yahoo.com.cn