Background Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is a common form of heart disease that is considered a serious health problem in society. Atherosclerosis is widely recognized as a chronic inflammatory disease of the vessels and can lead to CAD and myocardial infarction. The aim of the present study was to investigate serum levels of connexin-37 and stromelysin-1 as significant biomarkers of CAD and their correlation with the extent of CAD.
Methods and results Sixty CAD patients with one-vessel (1VD), two-vessel (2VD), and three-vessel (3VD) disease were enrolled in this study. For comparison with the results, 20 healthy control subjects were also included in this study. Serum concentrations of connexin-37 and stromelysin-1 were determined using commercial ELISA kits. Serum connexin-37 concentrations were not significantly different between the patient and control groups (p < 0.05). The analysis showed a statistically significant difference between subjects with one-vessel disease, subjects with two-vessel disease, and subjects with three-vessel disease. Serum Stromelysin-1 concentration was significantly higher in the patients than in the control group (p < 0.05).
Conclusions The results of our study indicate that serum levels of stromelysin-1, but not connexin-37, may contribute to the prediction of the occurrence and progression of CAD.