Correlation between the severity of coronary artery lesions and levels of estrogen, hs-CRP and MMP-9

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the severity of coronary artery lesions in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and levels of estrogen, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). A total of 65 patients with ACS, 33 patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 36 healthy controls were randomly enrolled. Patients with ACS were subdivided into two groups: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI; n=30) and unstable angina pectoris (UAP; n=35). Serum levels of estrogen, hs-CRP and MMP-9 were detected in the four groups of subjects. Serum estrogen levels in patients with AMI, UAP and SAP were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Estrogen levels were also significantly different among the AMI, UAP and SAP groups (P<0.05), with a progressive increase across the three respective groups. Compared with healthy subjects, patients with AMI had the highest levels of hs-CRP and MMP-9, followed in descending order by those with UAP and SAP (P<0.05). Levels of hs-CRP and MMP-9 were also significantly different among the AMI, UAP and SAP groups (P<0.05). Serum estrogen levels were negatively correlated with hs-CRP and MMP-9 levels (r=-0.6634 and -0.6878, respectively; both P<0.05). hs-CRP and MMP-9 levels correlated positively (r=0.7208, P<0.05). The number of stenosed coronary vessels was negatively correlated with estrogen levels (r=-0.6467, P<0.05), and positively correlated with hs-CRP and MMP-9 levels (r=0.6519 and 0.6835, respectively; both P<0.05). In conclusion, serum estrogen, hs-CRP and MMP-9 levels were significantly correlated with the severity of coronary artery lesions. There was also a significant correlation between serum estrogen, hs-CRP and MMP-9 levels. These data indicate that serum estrogen, hs-CRP and MMP-9 have the potential to be used as biomarkers for evaluating the severity of coronary artery lesions and the stability of coronary artery plaques.