Angiopoietin-like 4 serum levels on admission for acute myocardial infarction are associated with no-reflow.

BACKGROUND

No-reflow in ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with a poor clinical prognosis. Its pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully elucidated yet but enhanced vascular permeability plays a key role in this phenomenon. Angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) has been implicated in vascular permeability in experimental models of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We therefore sought to investigate whether baseline ANGPTL4 serum levels are associated with no-reflow after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

METHODS

We studied a group of 41 patients presenting with a first STEMI within 12h of onset of symptoms and who underwent successful PPCI. Blood samples were obtained from all patients on admission before the start of the procedure, for ANGPTL4 level measurement. No-reflow was assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the reference method.

RESULTS

MRI-detected no-reflow was observed in 20 patients (48.8%). Variables independently associated with no-reflow on multivariate logistic regression analysis were: lower ANGPTL4 serum levels (odds ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.98, P=0.02), higher troponin T peak (odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 1.00-1.05, P=0.03), higher incidence of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) as culprit artery (odds ratio 14.61, 95% CI 1.24-172.49, P=0.03), and higher C-reactive protein levels (odds ratio 1.18, 95% CI 1.00-1.39, P=0.05).

CONCLUSION

ANGPTL4 serum levels predict MRI-detected no-reflow after successful PPCI in STEMI patients. Given the recently demonstrated therapeutic role of ANGPTL4 in diminishing no-reflow and limiting infarct size in pre-clinical animal models, these findings in humans may open up new possibilities in the field of research.