Associations between pentraxin 3 and severity of coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between plasma levels of pentraxins 3 (PTX3) and C reactive protein (CRP) and the severity of coronary artery lesions. DESIGN AND METHODS: 60 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) who underwent coronary angiography (CAG) in our hospital were included. Plasma was collected during CAG. The coronary Gensini score was used to evaluate the severity of coronary artery lesions. Associations between Gensini scores and plasma levels of PTX3 and CRP were analysed. Patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) were included in the chronic renal dysfunction subgroup. RESULTS: A linear correlation was observed between PTX3 and the Gensini score (r=0.513, p<0.001). One-way analysis of variance showed that PTX3 levels were significantly higher in patients with Gensini scores >90 compared with patients with scores of 46–90 or <45 (0–45:4.8±0.8, 46–90:6.7±1.2, >90:7.7±2.0, p<0.001). Stepwise multiple linear regression showed that PTX3 levels were significantly associated with Gensini score in patients with chronic renal dysfunction (p=0.012), while no significant association was found for CRP. CONCLUSIONS: PTX3 levers were positively associated with the severity of coronary artery lesions. PTX3 is closely associated with the severity of coronary artery stenosis in patients with chronic renal dysfunction.