Elevated circulating level of P2X7 receptor is related to severity of coronary artery stenosis and prognosis of acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a severely life-threatening cardiovascular disease. Previous research has identified an association between the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) and the development of atherosclerosis. However, the correlation of its expression with the clinical prognosis of patients with AMI remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of P2X7R in Chinese patients with AMI. METHODS: Seventy-nine patients with AMI and 48 controls were consecutively enrolled in this prospective observational study. Circulating P2X7R mRNA expression levels and other clinical variables were determined upon admission to the hospital. Patients were followed up for 360 days, and the end-point was considered as the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). RESULTS: Circulating P2X7R mRNA expression level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with AMI were significantly higher than those in controls and had promising diagnostic ability of AMI with an area under the curve of 0.928. Furthermore, P2X7R was demonstrated to be correlated positively with the severity of coronary artery stenosis. Additionally, this is the first study to indicate that higher P2X7R mRNA expression is associated with a higher rate of MACE within 360 days after AMI. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the circulating level of P2X7R was elevated in AMI patients and was closely associated with the severity of coronary artery stenosis and prognosis of AMI.