Expression of angiogenesis-related genes in right atrial appendages from patients with advanced myocardial ischemia – preliminary results

INTRODUCTION: The most frequent cause of myocardial ischemia is atherosclerotic lesions which narrow coronary vessels leading to impaired blood flow or their total occlusion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using HG-U133A oligonucleotide microarrays (Affymetrix) we studied the expression levels of angiogenesis-related genes in patients with different types of heart failure. We analyzed the RNA from right atrial appendages from patients: 1) with advanced coronary disease and myocardial infarction history, 2) with advanced stable coronary disease and no infarction history, and 3) after surgery due to mitral stenosis, but with no coronary vessel lesions. RESULTS: Analysis of the data from oligonucleotide microarrays allowed identification of 2 genes (ENG and NPPB) differentiating the examination grups. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the expression profile of genes involved in angiogenesis, carried out using data obtained from examined individuals’ samples, suggests that necrosis accompanying myocardial infarction is a significant factor leading to elevated expression levels of genes involved in neoangiogenesis.