Relationship Between Plasma Osteopontin Levels And Coronary Artery Calcification And Its Severity Degree

Background: The main incidence basis of coronary heart disease is coronaryatherosclerosis ,and calcification is a signal pathological change of coronary atherosclerosis.Thesensitivity and accuracy of multislice spiral CT in detecting calcification is high , and thismethod is non-invasive. Multislice spiral CT is the most commonly used way to check coronaryartery calcification (CAC) quantitatively currently, it can not only reflect the presence ofcoronary artery calcification and its distribution,but also the proceeds of coronary arterycalcification score (CACS) by multislice spiral CT can reflect the total load of coronary arterycalcification accurately.The coronary artery calcification score and the Calcified degree of of pathologicalspecimens are in good agreement , and the calcification score increased along with the severityof the atherosclerotic lesion.The level of the calcification score can reflect the presence ofcoronary artery disease and its severity in a certain extent. Calcification of atherosclerotic willfeedback to enhance the intensity of the inflammatory response , which leads to the furtherdevelopment of atherosclerotic disease . It is often difficult to carry out conventionalpercutaneous coronary intervention in patients with coronary artery calcification , especiallyserious calcified lesions , while it need to combine the percutaneous rotational coronaryatherectomy. Coronary artery calcification plays an important role in the healing mechanism ofrecurrent coronary plaque rupture , and calcification is an independent risk factor in predictingthe occurrance of cardiovascular risk events . It is of great significance to study the risk factorsof coronary artery calcification for the risk prediction and prognosis evaluation of coronary heartdisease.Osteopontin (OPN)is a multifunctional glycoprotein ,it is named because it plays animportant role in the process of bone formation . In normal circumstances , the OPN expressionin some tissue of the body is extremely meager , and OPN expression levels are significantlyhigher in the case of a variety of neoplastic diseases , Such as rheumatoid autoimmune diseases ,inflammatory diseases and urinary system stones. It is confirmed that OPN plays an importantrole in many physiological and pathological processes,such as participating in the growth andmetastasis of tumor cells , the cellular immune response, controling the intensity of theinflammatory response and regulating tissue damage repair. It is confirmed that the expression ofOPN in the normal arterial wall is minimal or no expression.But the expression levels weresignificantly increased in the neointimal blood vessels after a variety of pathological damage , and it can promote the adhesion, proliferation and migration process of vascular smooth musclecells and fibroblast, and can enhance the chemotaxis of macrophage . Domestic and internationalstudy confirmed that OPN mRNA expression levels and plasma OPN levels raise in patients withcoronary heart disease .There is a significant correlation with the raised levels of plasma OPNand the number of coronary arteries that had lesions in patients with Coronary heart disease. Inrecent years , It is Confirmed OPN levels increased more significantly in the calcified lesion thanin the atherosclerotic plaques by Autopsy studies,and there is also a correlation with OPN andthe severity of coronary artery calcification.They put forward that there is a correlation withOPN and coronary artery calcification. This subject analysised the correlation between the OPNlevel with the total loading of coronary artery calcification what was tested by non- invasivemethod, there is no related research in China now.Objective: To explore if plasma osteopontin levels could reflect the presence and the severity ofcoronary artery calcification, by studing the Correlation between plasma osteopontin(OPN)levels and CACS by multislice spiral computed tomography(MSCT)，and to provide a referencefor the risk prediction and prognostic evaluation of coronary heart disease.Methods: A total of 90 patients underwent coronary 128-slice spiral computed tomography(CT).The CACS of the patients were calculated using the Agatston scoring method. The patients weredivided into two groups，non-calcification group（control group）and calcification group，according to the result of coronary CT. In calcification group，the patients were further dividedinto three groups as mild calcification group（CACS<100），moderate calcification group（100≤CACS<400）and severe calcification group（CACS≥400），according to the CAC scores.Plasma OPN levels were measured by ELISA，analyzed and compared respectively.Result:1.The plasma OPN level was higher in calcification group than that in non-calcification group（P＜0.01）.2.The difference of Plasma OPN levels among the three groups of the calcification group issignificant statistically（P＜0.01）. The plasma OPN levels were significantly higher in moderateand severe calcification groups than in mild calcified group（P＜0.01 respectively），and higherin severe calcification group than in moderate calcification group（P＜0.01）.3. Correlation analysis: Plasma OPN level was positively associated with the CACS.Conclusion: There is a significant correlation with the plasma OPN levels and coronary arterycalcification scores.Plasma OPN levels can reflect the existance and severity degree of coronaryartery calcification,also to be a prediction index.