Correlation Between Serum Matrix Metalloproteinases Levels And Characteristics Of Coronary CT Angiography Atherosclerotic Plagues And Extent Of Atherosclerotic Vessels In Asymptomatic Population

Objectives:To investigate the correlation between serum matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and characteristics of CT angiography (CTA),such as types of plagues, segment stenosis score(SSS), segment involvement score(SIS),number of atherosclerotic vessels in Chinese asymptomatic population, improve the diagnosis of early atherosclerotic lesions, and lower the overuse to the asymptomatic people.Material and Methods:Five hundred and eighty-one asymptomatic subjects without history of coronary heart diseases who underwent coronary CTA were enrolled. The status of coronary atherosclerosis was recorded. The serum MMPs as well as general biochemical markers, such as cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein(HDL) were evaluated. And based on the CTA results, all the subjects were divided into four groups, that is the non-plagues group, the non-calcified plague group,the mixed plague group,and the calcified plaque group.The serum MMPs (MMP-1,MMP-2,MMP-8,MMP-9,MMP-14) levels in each plague group were assessed. The subjects redivided into four groups, according to serum MMP-14 levels ranges. The differences of involved branches number, involved left main artery, SIS and SSS were analyzed among subjects in the four different MMP-14 level groups.Results:(1) 358accounting for 61.6% subjects were diagnosed with coronary artery atherosclerotic plaques by CT. Serum MMP-14 level along with gender, age, smoke,hypertension and HDL level were different statistically in four plague groups, while all the other four MMPs involved shows no statistical difference when compared among four groups. And the MMP-14 level in the non-calcified plague group and the mixed plague group are both lower than that of the other groups, and the P value is less than 0.05. Otherwise, the serum MMP-14 level can recognize the atherosclerotic lesion, the non-calcified lesion, respectively.The AUC(area under curve)of the ROC(Receiver operating characteristic) is 0.607(95%CI:0.552-0.661,P<0.01)、0.57 (95% CI: 0.502-0.638, P<0.05) respectively. The multinomial Logistic regression model adjusting the age, gender, smoke, hypertension, BMI(body mess index), and diabetes, the serum MMP-14 level is shown to be an independent factor for non-calcified plagues(OR:0.884 [0.810,0.964], P<0.01).(2)The higher the SIS and SSS,the lower levels of MMP-14, all the P values were less than 0.05. The level of serum MMP-14 was negatively correlated with plaque score (SSSrs=-0.148, P< 0.01; SIS rs=-0.141,P<0.01). Univariate Ordinal Logistic Regression revels that the serum MMP-14 level was associated with the SIS(based on <3group,OR value was -0.04[-0.07,-0.01], P<0.01),SSS (based on <3group,OR value was -0.04[-0.07,-0.01], P<0.01) and the number of atherosclerotic vessels(based on 3 atherosclerotic group, OR was -0.04[-0.06,-0.01], P<0.05); while adjusting the age, gender, hypertension, smoke, diabetes, BMI, the multinomial Logistic regression model shows no statistically significant relation between the three factors and serum MMP-14 level.Conclusion:Serum MMP-14 could predict atherosclerotic lesions, especially non-calcified plaque lesions in asymptomatic population. And serum MMP-14 was also correlated with SSS and SIS,but couldnot as a factor predict these indexs.