Abstract
Context: Endothelin-1(ET-1) has been implicated in coronary artery disease (CAD) and may be associated with coronary artery ectasia (CAE).
Objective: To clarify the relationship between big ET-1 and isolated CAE.
Methods: We measured big ET-1 with ELISA in 216 patients (CAE, n = 72; CAD, n = 72; normal, n = 72) and evaluated the link with isolated CAE.
Results: The level of plasma big ET-1 was significantly higher in patients with isolated CAE (p < 0.001). Big ET-1 was strongly and independently associated with CAE by multivariate analysis (OR 95%CI: 1.026 (1.018–1.034), p = 0.000).
Conclusions: Big ET-1 may be a useful predictor for the presence of isolated CAE.
Acknowledgements
This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81070171, 81241121), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20111106110013), the Capital Special Foundation of Clinical Application Research (Z121107001012015), the Capital Health Development Fund (2011400302), and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7131014) awarded to Dr Jian-Jun Li, MD, PhD.
Disclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.