Serum level and gene expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) as a strong predictor for myocardial infarction in a sample of Iraqi population

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) also referred as a "heart attack" is the sudden death of myocardial tissue caused by ischemia and typically caused by thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery caused by the breakdown of a fragile plaque. Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1) is a chemokine that belongs to the small inducible cytokine family. It is essential for monocyte and T lymphocyte recruitment into tissues. The aim of this work to see if there was a relationship between the level of MCP-1 in the human peripheral circulation and the development of myocardial infarction. Subject and methods: We studied 150 patients with MI (24 female and 126 male) were recruited from the Iraqi center for heart disease at ("Ghazi Al-Hariri hospital") in Baghdad, Iraq between January 2019 and June 2019 with a mean age (58.81 +/- 8.21). Another 150 healthy subjects with no history of MI (52 female and 98 male) were enrolled as controls with a mean age (56.67 +/- 9.25). Anthropometric measurements, clinical laboratory measurement include serum lipid profile, a quantitative enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) include MCP-1 and oxLDL serum levels and the echocardiographic data were determined. The total RNA was extracted from leukocytes and the relative quantification of MCP-1 gene was assessed by using the reverse transcriptase quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) technique. Result: In the current study, it was observed insignificant differences in anthropometric parameters except smoking status. The significant data (p < 0.05) was showed in ejection fraction, lipid profile and oxidize low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) between the two studied groups. Serum MCP-1 level increased significantly by 2 folds (310.8 +/- 52.91 pg/ml) in MI patients when compared to control (180 +/- 36.4 pg/ml). Significant low level of MCP-1 observed in patients with anterior MI (301.1 +/- 40.2 pg/ml) compared with inferior MI (3.11 +/- 49.6 pg/ml) or other sites (312.7 +/- 51.3). Fold expression was statically differences and high unregulated of MCP-1 in MI patients (2(-Delta Delta Ct) = 2. 56 +/- 0. 99). The diagnostic efficiency of serum MCP-1 and fold expression were demonstrated using a ROC curve study in MI patients versus control group at cutoff value 226.29 pg/ml with (specificity 99.2%; sensitivity 98.1%) and 1.79 with (specificity 85.7%; sensitivity 88.2%) respectively. Pearson's Correlation Coefficients study of MCP-1 serum level and fold expression revealed positive correlation with oxLDL (r = 0.4; 0.35) at p value <0.05 respectively. Also the positive correlation between serum level and fold expression of MCP-1 (r = 0.31) at the corresponding level p < 0.05 was observed. Conclusion: From a clinical standpoint, MCP-1 concentration provided independent prognostic value and, was found to be one of the best indicators of clinical activity in MI patients. It is a new, independent measure of clinical myocardial infarction status that also accurately reflects the significant correlated with the sensitive cardiovascular risk biomarker.