Comparison of erythrocyte microparticle levels between acute coronary syndrome and stable angina pectoris patients

Objective: By analyzing the difference in the level of plasma erythrocyte microparticles (MPs) between patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP), we sought to evaluate an association to predict potential diagnostic value. Methods: A total of 127 patients with ACS and 21 patients with SAP were diagnosed through the analysis of a peripheral blood sample, and 45 patients with non-coronary artery disease (non-CAD) were enrolled as controls. After peripheral blood from the studied subjects was collected and centrifuged, the Ca2+ vector A23187 was added to obtain MPs. Erythrocyte MPs were labeled with an antibody specific to erythrocyte particles (glycophorin A CD235a) and then quantitatively analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: The levels of erythrocyte MPs in the peripheral blood of the ACS and SAP groups were 27.1 +/- 14.83% and 41.58 +/- 16.50%, respectively, and the level of erythrocyte MPs in the non-CAD group was 19.29 +/- 16.54%. The level of erythrocyte MPs in the ACS group was significantly higher than that in the non-CAD group (P<0.05). When ACS sub-groups were analyzed, the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The level of erythrocyte MPs in the SAP group was higher than that in the non-CAD and ACS groups (P<0.001 and P=0.001, respectively) and was also higher than that in the sub-groups of ACS patients (P=0.011 and P=0.040, respectively). Conclusions: The level of erythrocyte MPs was higher in the ACS group than in healthy controls, suggesting that erythrocyte MPs may be involved in the development of ACS and may be associated with acute cardiovascular events in ACS.