IgA anticardiolipin antibody is associated with the extent of daily-life ischaemia in patients with chronic coronary artery disease
- Ignatios Ikonomidis1,
- John Lekakis1,
- Georgia Vamvakou1,
- Sozos Loizou2,
- Ioanna Revela1,
- Felicita Andreotti2,
- Dimitrios T Kremastinos1,
- Petros Nihoyannopoulos2
- 12nd Cardiology Department, Attikon Hospital, University of Athens, Greece
- 2Imperial College School of Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute, Cardiology Department, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK
- Ignatios Ikonomidis, 2nd Cardiology Department, Attikon Hospital, University of Athens, Perikleous 19, N. Chalkidona, Athens, 14343, Greece; ignoik{at}otenet.gr
- Accepted 1 November 2006
Abstract
Background: Circulating anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) may cause endothelial dysfunction. We investigated whether aCL are related to platelet activation, thrombin generation and daily-life ischaemia in patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods: We measured (medians 25th–75th percentile) IgG, IgM, IgA aCL serum levels (Arbitrary Elisa Units, AEU), prothrombin fragments (F1+2, nmol/l), 24 h urine excretion of 11-dehydrothromboxane B2 (11-DHTXB2, ng/mg creatinine) creatine kinase (CK) and its cardiac isoenzyme CK-MB (IU/l) in 60 patients with angiographically documented CAD and in 40 age and sex matched controls. Patients underwent a 48 h Holter monitoring for assessment of the number and duration of ischaemic episodes.
Results: Patients had higher IgA-aCL levels than controls (3.2 vs 2.4 AEU, p = 0.002). Increased IgA-ACA levels were related to increased number and duration of ischaemic episodes (p<0.01). By ANOVA, patients with ≥10 ischaemic episodes (3rd tertile) or duration of ischaemia ≥32min (3rd tertile) had higher IgA-aCL than those with lower ischaemic burden (4.95 vs 3 vs 2.5 AEU, p = 0.002 and 4.9 vs 3 vs 2.5 AEU, p = 0.001 respectively). Patients with ≥2 ischaemic episodes (2nd and 3rd tertile) had higher 11-DHTXB2, than those with minimal ischaemia (2< episodes, 1st tertile) (p = 0.001). CK and CK-MB were within normal range after Holter monitoring. Receiver operating curve analysis showed a greater area under the curve for IgA-aCL than for 11-DHTXB2 in predicting severe ischaemia (≥10 ischemic episodes or ≥32 min duration of ischaemia).
Conclusion: Increasing IgA-aCL levels are associated with increasing ischemic burden in patients with CAD.
Footnotes
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Competing interests: None declared.
- Abbreviations:
- aCL
- anticardiolipin antibodies
- AUC
- areas under the curves
- CK
- creatine kinase
- HM
- Holter monitoring
- ROC
- receiver operating characteristic curve
