Expression Of PAPP-A,NF-κB And Some Cytokine In Human Atherosclerotic Plaque And Their Relationship With The Stability Of Atheromatons Plaque

Objective To investigate the expression levels of PAPP-A, NF-κB,TNF-αand IL-1βin human atherosclerotic plaque and their correlation, fix PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βmasculine location by labeling macrophage and smooth muscle cell. We analyze the relationship between PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βwith the stability of atherosclerotic plaque to evaluate PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βthe potential predicting value as markers indicating the instability of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with acute coronary syndromes(ACS).Method Forty-eight specimens of human coronary artery atherosclerotic plaques were obtained from autopsy of 36 patients, 15 cases of ACS including acute myocardial infarction(AMI) and 21 cases of patients without myocardial infarction from 2000 to 2005 in Dalian. The patients in this study were aged from 24 to 75, average 53.2 We make serial section of the left main branch(LM), left anterior centimeter descending branch(LAD), left circumflex branch(LCX) and right coronary artery(RCA) from beginning to the ending with an interval about 1 centimeter. All specimens were dehydrated, embedded in paraffin and sectioned. Plaques were histologically classified as either stable plaque group(fibrous plaque group) and unstable plaque group(lipid-rich group) according to the structure under light microscope. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the presence of macrophages(CD68), smooth muscle cell(α-actin) and to examine the expression of PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1β.Result The expression of PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βwere observed in intima and tunica media. PAPP-A staining was positive in thefoam cell cytoplasm of rupture plaque area, cytoplasm of macrophage, endothelial cell(EC) and smooth muscle cell(SMC), the peripheral zone of lipid core, the shoulder-region of the fibrous cap. NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βstaining was positive in the EC, SMC, macrophage and foam cell of atherosclerosis area and cytoplasm of SMC in tunica media. They were found strongly in macrophage and foam cell.The expression of PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βin intima and tunica media of the unstable plaques was much stronger than in the stable ones(P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between the expression of PAPP-A and TNF-α, NF-κB and TNF-α, NF-κB and IL-1βin plaques(r=0.744,P=0.000, r=0.788,P=0.000, r=0.809,P=0.000).Conclusion The expression of PAPP-A, NF-κB, TNF-αand IL-1βwere observed in coronary arteries atherosclerotic lesion. The expression of them in the unstable plaques was significantly increased as compared to the stable ones. They are closely related with the stability of plaques and may participate in the formation of unstable plaque. There was a positive correlation between the expression of PAPP-A and TNF-α, NF-κB and TNF-α, NF-κB and IL-1βin plaques.