Plasma EMMPRIN levels in acute myocardial infarction and stable coronary artery disease

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the plasma levels of soluble extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) differed among the patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-STEMI (NSTEMI) and stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and the healthy controls, and to identify the factors associated with the differences in plasma levels of this this protein among patients in these groups. Methods: Plasma EMMPRIN levels were compared among four age- and sex-matched groups of patients with STEMI, NSTEMI and stable CAD and healthy controls (n=44 per group), then logistic regression and correlation analyses were conducted for the whole acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients group. Results: EMMPRIN levels were significantly higher in the STEMI (39.4 +/- 9.2ng/mL) and NSTEMI (37.1 +/- 10.5ng/mL) groups than in either the stable CAD (27.5 +/- 4.7ng/mL) or control (24.5 +/- 5.8ng/mL) groups (p<0.001 for each comparison), whereas the differences between the STEMI and NSTEMI groups, and between the stable CAD group and the controls, was not significant. Moreover, in the whole AMI patients group, the elevation of EMMPRIN was independent of the other variables (Odds ratio=1.25, 95% confidence intervals=1.16-1.34, p<0.001), and EMMPRIN levels were correlated significantly and positively with the plasma levels of peak creatine kinase-MB (r=0.22, p<0.05), peak cardiac troponin T (r=0.27, p<0.05) and admission C-reactive protein (r=0.26, p<0.05), and correlated significantly and inversely with left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.22, p<0.05). Conclusion: EMMPRIN seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of AMI and its measurement in the plasma may play a role in the diagnosis of this disease.