Thymosin beta4 levels after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction

Objectives: Thymosin beta4 (T beta 4) has been shown to have an important role in healing of damaged tissues and promoting cardiomyocyte survival in acute coronary syndromes. We evaluated endogenous T beta 4 levels in patients presenting with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) before and after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Study design: The study included 24 consecutive patients (7 females, 17 males; mean age 55.0 +/- 10.9 years) who underwent successful primary PCI for STEMI and 24 age-and sex-matched healthy controls (13 females, 11 males; mean age 57.5 +/- 11.7 years) with angiographically normal coronary arteries. To determine T beta 4 levels, blood samples were obtained from STEMI patients on admission and 48 hours after successful PCI, and from controls immediately after coronary angiography. Results: Compared to controls, baseline levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (46.2 +/- 8.9 vs. 34.2 +/- 7.2 mg/dl, p<0.001) and T beta 4 (2.9 +/- 1.5 vs. 1.5 +/- 1.0 mu g/ml, p<0.001) were significantly lower, and white blood cell counts (7.6 +/- 2.2 vs. 11.4 +/- 3.0 10(3)/mu l, p<0.001) were significantly higher in the STEMI group. After 48 hours of PCI, the mean T beta 4 level increased significantly to 2.3 +/- 0.8 mu g/ml (p<0.001) and became similar to that of the control group (p=0.068). There was a significant negative correlation between serum T beta 4 and white blood cell count (r=-0.347, p=0.016). Conclusion: Considering the significant increase in serum T beta 4 levels following successful primary PCI in patients with STEMI, T beta 4 may prove to be a new marker in the assessment of reperfusion success in addition to those used currently.