The relationships of isolated coronary artery ectasia with urotensin 2 levels, hypertension and other atherosclerotic risk factors

Abstract

Aims: Isolated coronary artery ectasia (ICAE) is characterized with ectasia of the coronary arteries due to inflammation, atherosclerosis and positive vascular remodelling without concomitant stenosis. Urotensin II (UII) is an important vascular peptide which has influence on vascular remodelling in addition to potent vasoconstrictor effect. We investigated UII levels, hypertension, and other atherosclerotic risk factors in patients with ICAE. Materials and methods: Among 1820 patients who underwent coronary angiography between May 2010 and 2011 in our hospital, 20 patients (18 male) with ICAE, and 28 patients (11 male) with normal coronary arteries (NCA) were enrolled. We compared UII levels, risk factors between patients with ICAE and NCA. Results: UII concentrations were significantly higher in patients with ICAE compared to controls (700.0 +/- 16.6 ng/ml vs. 708.0 +/- 33.5 ng/ml, p:0.02). Moreover, patients with ICAE tended to be older, with higher BMI, lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and more prevalent hypertension. ICAE correlated positively with UII levels (r:0.339, p:0.02), advanced age (r:0.594, p: 0.001), BMI (r:0.390, p: 0.005) whereas a negative correlation existed between HDL-C, and ICAE (r:-0.305, p:0.037). Conclusion: We identified increased UII levels in patients with ICAE. Higher UII concentrations may further imply the role of atherosclerosis in ICAE pathogenesis due to its relationship with inflammation, atherosclerosis and vascular remodelling.